The Girl Without A Name
by Gravity-Chan
Summary: Lucy Heartfilia is a pretty typical girl. Smart, pretty, independent, and not bad in a conflict either. When she enrolls in Fairy Tail Academy, a home and school for orphaned teens, she discovers a secret she never would have expected, one that may be directly linked to her forgotten father. High School AU with a twist. Rated T for language.
1. What's Your Name?

**Hello everyone! Welcome to my newest story! I hope you all enjoy it c: This one is a Nalu; I haven't written one in a while. it centers around Lucy first person perspective, and it's kind of a high school AU with a Fairy Tail twist. You'll figure out what I mean later. I'm experimenting with pacing a lot in this story, so hopefully it'll be longer than my other fifteen-chapter stories, but this also means that it'll take a while to get into the plot. So far I've written ten chapters and I'm still not there. So bear with me, promise you won't be disappointed! Please leave me a review and tell me what you think! I'm super excited for this newest story! It'll be updated on Saturdays, just like To Save A Life.**

**Summary: Lucy Heartfilia is a pretty typical girl. Smart, pretty, independant, and not bad in a conflict either. When she enrols in Fairy Tail Academy, a home and school for orphaned teens, she discovers a secret she never would have expected, one that may be directly linked to her forgotten father. High School AU with a twist.**

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><p>I sighed softly, stretching my arms over my head as I surveyed the scenery around me. The streets of Magnolia were crowded with people; checking my watch I realized that it was rush hour, and everyone was heading home from work. I placed my hands on my hips. It had been two weeks since I had moved into my apartment on Strawberry Street, and already I was beginning to get used to the pretty scenery around me. The streets were lined with ethnic shops and sakura trees, their pink petals adding color to the already lively atmosphere.<p>

I smiled as I made my way along the edge of the canal that split the city in half, waving to the boaters as I did. I paused at the mailbox in front of my house as I approached the apartment, tipping the lid down to see inside. My eyebrows rose in surprise at the sight of a package inside, and I reached inside to pull it out. It was small, a bit longer than the length of my hand, and a few inches wide. I frowned. It wasn't a holiday or my birthday, so I wasn't expecting any gifts from family members. There was no tag on the package, no return address, so I had no way of knowing who it was from.

I tucked the box under my arm with a frown as I fished my house key from my pocket and unlocked my apartment, closing the door behind me. Sitting down on my bed, I used my fingernail to pierce the packing tape on the package and open the box, finding inside a decorative box in a deep shade of purple with red edges. What could this random package possibly be? Flipping the lid open, I examined its contents.

Inside the box, on a pillow of red velvet, was a key. Furrowing my eyebrows, I gently pulled the key from its place and ran my fingers over it. Its workmanship was exceedingly fine, made of silver, and crafted with an end that could only open the lock it was created for. "But who would give me such an expensive gift?" I asked myself. If it was even a gift at all. It was possible that someone had left it at my apartment by accident, or given it to the wrong person.

I sighed and shook my head, placing the object back in its box and setting it on my desk. "Maybe a walk will clear my head," I mumbled to myself. I changed my clothing into a more comfortable outfit, a pair of loose jean shirts and a green tank top, and headed to the back door of my apartment, opening it. Behind it was a forest pathway, a pretty nature spot, one that I hadn't had the chance to visit yet.

Frowning, I began to walk, sticking my hands in my pockets and glancing around. The trees were in full bloom, scattering colorful petals over the grass and shrubbery surrounding them, and the scent of nature calmed me down as I walked. I was surprised there weren't more people out walking; it was a beautiful night, and the sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows along the ground.

I shrugged, choosing not to worry about it, and continued along the path. I only paused in my walk when I heard a noise from the bushes in front of me, where the path took a curve through a small meadow. I frowned, surveying my surroundings. It was quiet again. "I could have sworn…" _I heard a noise,_ I finished in my head, my frown deepening.

Shaking my head, I continued walking, kicking a small pebble with my foot. When the noise came again, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, but I played it cool, as if I hadn't heard. When I began to hear footsteps behind me, I began to concentrate. Three pairs, if I heard correctly. I slowly pulled my right hand from my pocket and let it drift to my hip, closing on the handle of the whip I always had attached to my belt for just this kind of occasion. "I can hear you, you know," I called out, pausing in my walking.

For a moment there was only silence, and then one of the men behind me began to laugh. I glanced over my shoulder to steal a glance at my stalkers. They were all young men, probably only a handful of years older than me, but with a look that suggested they were anything but civil. The man laughing was obviously their leader, standing at the front of the pack, and a few strands of fine, dark hair that weren't held back in his ponytail were hanging in his face. "You have good hearing," he commented, his sinister smile glinting in the fading light. "How interesting."

I straightened my stance and turned to fully face the group, my expression hardened and unforgiving. I gripped the handle of my whip tighter, my fingers working free the clasp that held it to my belt. "Is there anything I can do for you gentlemen?" I asked, trying not to sound too hostile in case they weren't actually dangerous. Who knows, maybe they were naturally creepy?

The leader lifted his hand and let it hover in front of him, palm up. "We're robbers who shadow these trails and feed off of innocent souls like yourself. So fork over all your valuables!" he announced. On cue, his lackeys began to advance on me.

"Heh." A smile formed on my lips and I flicked the clasp free, snapping my whip in anticipation. "I think you all will find that I'm not such an innocent soul after all," I said, and as the men began to rush me, I snapped the whip again, flicking its end expertly so that it wrapped around the ankle of one of the men, a bulky one with shaggy reddish hair. I yanked the whip hard, bringing the man to the ground with a yelp. Outraged, the second man lunged, aiming for my shoulders. I ducked nimbly, weaving my body beneath his, and drove my elbow into his gut, sending him sprawling with a nasty hacking noise.

"Robbers, you say, and yet you can't handle a teenage girl like myself?" I asked, pressing a finger to my lips innocently and batting my eyelashes. I let a smirk play on my lips as I watched my victims floundering. "You aren't so tough."

The leader of the gang growled at me, an animal-like noise that made me wonder if he was actually human for a moment. "You bitch, you'll pay for that!" he yelled, lunging forward. I bent my knees, prepared to fight, but he was much faster than I thought he would be, and I barely had time to duck at his hand brushed the side of my head.

I jumped back, away from him, and brandished my whip. "You're stronger than you look!" I commented, lunging forward and cracking my whip so that it wrapped around his wrist. pulling him forward with my hands, I drove my knee forward, into his chin. He let out a yell of pain as he stumbled back, holding his bleeding chin.

Snarling, he lept forward once more, his hand reaching into a slip between the folds of his shirt. I only just manages to catch the glint of a knife blade before he was attacking me again, and I cried out as a sharp pain flared in my side, tearing through the fabric of my shirt and breaking the skin. I lifted my whip once more, but to my shock his slash had also cut through it, leaving me without a weapon. Cursing under my breath, I discarded the torn remains of my whip and lifted my fists.

The man cackled, twirling the knife expertly. He grinned at me, a sick sort of grin. "You're quite the troublemaker, sweetheart," he said. "Unfortunately, this kind of behavior may force me to take drastic measures."

"Even without my whip, I can still take you down!" I retorted, raising my fists defensively. As the man lunged forward, knife in hand, I was ready, and spun around, narrowly avoiding his weapon and thrusting my elbow into his back, forcing him to stumble to the ground.

The man flipped onto his back as he fell, grabbing my wrist, and I yelped as he brought me to the ground with him. He grabbed my hair, yanking it painfully.

"Let go!" I yelled, kicking him in the shin. That seemed to cause him enough pain that he released his hold on me, and I stumbled to my feet once more and clenched my teeth, kicking him hard where it counts.

The man let out a strangled gasp, curling in on himself. He muttered colorful curses to me as I took a step back, catching my breath. Casting him a distasteful glare, I gathered up the severed pieces of my whip and pressed my free hand to my side, cringing at the feel of blood on my hands.

No sooner had I straightened myself out than there was a crash in the woods behind me and another man jumped out of the bushes. He was breathing hard, as though he had run fast to get here, and he looked around, almost frantically. "Who do I beat up?" he asked brusquely.

I straightened my back, looking the man up and down. He was actually more of a boy, with slightly tan skin and odd pink hair. His dark eyes, the color of charcoal, flicked back and forth between me and the three men on the ground.

"Thanks for the offer, but I've already handled it," I said, lifting my chin in an act to seem tougher. In the kind of world I live in, a woman has to fight to be considered on the same level as men, and I did my best to appear condescending while ignoring the pain from the wound in my abdomen. "I'm tougher than I look."

For a moment the boy looked confused, even shocked, but then his expression melted into a grin, an amused glint in his eyes. "I can see that," he agreed with a laugh. "So much for 'damsel in distress'. I was hoping for some action." he glanced at me, his eyes flicking down to where my hand covered my side, and his amusement dissipated. "You're bleeding," he realized, taking a step towards me. "Did they hurt you?"

"One of them grazed me with his knife, but it's just a shallow cut," I replied, pulling my hand away from the wound. It was drenched in blood, and I grimaced at the sight. "I don't live very far away. Thanks for your concern, but I'm gonna head home now." I turned to leave, but as I did, I heard his footsteps shadowing me. I glanced over my shoulder in annoyance. "Anything else I can do for you?"

The boy smiled and ran a hand through his pink spikes. "Well, I can't leave you alone with a wound like that," he replied. "It would be rude. Besides, I want to make sure you get home safe."

I rolled my eyes, unconvinced, but I was far too tired and irritated to argue. "Fine, you can follow me to my house, but you have to wait outside for me to come back. I am absolutely not letting a strange man into my house!"

The boy grinned an idiotic grin and quickened his pace to catch up with me, walking at my side. I rolled my eyes at his childishness. I led the way down the worn dirt path and to the back door of my apartment. "Wait here," I instructed, gesturing to the small concrete patio between my door and the forest.

To my surprise (I had been expecting more of an argument), the boy did as he was told, seating himself down on the patio. I nodded; one problem out of the way. Closing the door behind me, I went inside my apartment and too the bathroom, discarding my shirt in order to clean out the wound in my side. I ran some hot water in the bathtub and gently rubbed it on the cut to clear away the dried blood from around it, and saw with satisfaction that the cat was actually not very long and pretty shallow. It would need to be wrapped and cleaned a few times before it was healed, but that didn't bother me much. I rummaged around in the First Aid kid I kept under my bathroom sink and pulled out a thick roll of gauze, carefully wrapping it around my torso to cover the still bleeding wound. I taped the bandages in place when I was finished, smiling at my work before grabbing my tattered tank top from off the floor.

"Damn, I liked this top," I complained as I walked out of the bathroom in my shorts and bra.

"I never would have guessed you had such a potty mouth." I jumped at the sudden voice in my apartment and, regrettably, let out a very girly, high-pitched scream. Immediately I raised the tank top to cover my bra, fuming at the pink-haired boy lounging on my sofa. He flinched at my shrill scream and turned his gaze to me, digging his pinky finger into his ear as if I had deafened him. "Ow. Why do you have to scream so loudly?"

I gritted my teeth angrily and fisted my hands in the fabric of the tank top. "I told you to wait outside!" I yelled. "How did you even get in here?! I locked the door!"

The boy rolled his eyes. "I used the window, duh," he replied, as if breaking into my apartment through my - mistakenly - unlocked window wasn't a federal offense. "Besides, I was worried about you. It was a pretty bad wound. I also forgot to ask your name." he held out his hand, a broad grin on his face. "I'm Natsu Dragneel. What's your name?"

Never mind that I had just gotten in a fight and possibly mortally wounded myself. Never mind that I was practically in my underwear. Nope, this stranger just wanted to know my name. I was, to be honest, speechless. So, I did the only thing that came to mind. I shook his hand. "Lucy."

"So, Lucy, do you always walk around your house in your underwear?"

_SMACK!_


	2. To Fairy Tail!

**After proofreading this, it turned out longer than it was originally xD I hope you all like this chapter! One thing to keep in mind while reading: Society in this story revolves around men being the dominant gender, meaning women are looked down upon. Lucy doesn't give a crap about society, but she follows the customs to stay out of trouble. Thanks to all of you who followed/favorited/reviewed! Please drop me a review if you like the chapter!**

**CuteFoxSage-NightShadeOwl: xD I don't know! That's a good question! I'm glad you find them, though. Your reviews make me smile ^^ I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it!**

**Ellie-016: Lucy is a total badass in this story, I don't even know where it comes from lol. There will be a lot of OOC Lucy, but she'll become more in character as the story progresses.**

**CierraTheAlaskanDragonSlayer: Thank you so much! Long reviews always make me happy! Natsu is my baby, he's adorable x3 I'm glad you like it so much! Thanks for pointing that out, too.**

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><p>"You live in this apartment by yourself?" Natsu asked around the ice pack he was holding to his face. After his very un-classy comment regarding my undergarments, I had socked him in the jaw so hard that I left a welt. After that I had thrown him an ice pack from my freezer and put on a baby blue tee, collapsing on my couch. "What about your parents?" he pressed.<p>

I frowned. "Dead," I replied harshly, turning my head away from him.

But that's a story for another time. Natsu made a sound between a grunt and a cough. "What about school? Surely you're a student? You can't be older than me."

"No time. I have to work full time to pay for this apartment," I answered. A sad expression took over my cold one. "If I could go back to school, I would."

Natsu leaned forward on the bed, resting his elbows on his knees. There was a knowing expression on his face, and I flashed him a curious look, eyebrow cocked. "What if I told you that there was a place you could go where you could get a room, food, and an education, all for the low price of a little manual labor?" he asked.

I snorted incredulously. "A place like that doesn't exist," I replied, leaning back on the couch and clasping my hands behind my head.

Natsu flicked his bangs from his eyes with a devious smile. "What if I told you that it did?" he urged. He pulled up the sleeve of his tee-shirt, revealing a tattoo on his shoulder. It was red, and strange, almost like… "A fairy?" I snorted. "Are you kidding me?"

"I never kid about Fairy Tail!" Natsu insisted, pouting at me. "But that's beside the point. Fairy Tail is a home for kids without parents. It's a pretty nice building. If you live there, they give you a free room to share with someone else, and they have a board of jobs you can take to earn money. That's the 'manual labor' I was talking about earlier. Some of the money you earn goes towards the building, to maintain it, buy food and clothes, and other essentials. But other than that, you don't have to pay anything out of your own pocket. Plus, during the school year they offer classes to high school and college students."

I eyed Natsu suspiciously. It sounded like a trap to me. "And where would this place be located?" I asked.

"Just down the street," Natsu replied, jerking his thumb in a random direction offhandedly. "I can take you down to visit sometime if you like. I'm sure Gramps and the others would be happy to show you around."

I then made a very hasty decision. I grabbed my sweatshirt off of my coat rack and threw it over my shoulders. "Take me there."

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><p>"I thought you said it was close!" I complained, rubbing my arms through my sweatshirt sleeves. "It's freezing out here. How much further?" Just my luck that the weather would change right when I decided to leave. By now the sun had long set, and the stars were out, shedding just a bit of light on the sidewalk as we walked.<p>

Natsu waved his hand dismissively. "We're close, I promise," he assured, taking a sharp turn to a grove of trees beyond the city. "It's just a little hidden."

Now this was definitely looking like a trap. And this time I didn't have a weapon to rely on. Why did I do this again? Just as I was beginning to think about turning and running, however, the trees opened up to show the front of a tall building. On the front of the building was an icon like the one on Natsu's shoulder. I glanced up at the sign with a small frown. "So this is the place?" I clarified. It was a large box-shaped building with three floors, a small covered deck spanning the length of the front. Two large double doors sat squarely in its center. Natsu headed towards the doors, motioning for me to follow him.

Inside of the doors was a small hallway that opened up into a large common area. There were tables set up along the edges of the room, with a slightly miscolored path of wood tiles leading to a busy-looking bar, where a pretty barmaid was working. She glanced up, dipping her rag into a beer mug, and smiled. "Welcome back, Natsu!" she called, setting the mug down, and her eyes met mine. "Who's this?"

Natsu grinned. "This is Lucy!" he replied, making his way over to the bar. "I told her about Fairy Tail and she asked for a tour."

I managed a small smile for the barmaid, who smiled back radiantly. "My name is Mirajane. I manage the bar here and help maintain the building, and I'm also a senior here," she introduced. "So you're here for a tour? No problem! I would give it, but unfortunately, it's beer night, and the teachers get cranky when I leave them." she giggled lightly. "Natsu, if you would?"

Natsu nodded. "You can count on me, Mira!" he assured, and without warning, reached out and grabbed my wrist, tugging me away from the bar. "C'mon, Luce!"

Yelping in surprise, I hastily pulled my arm from Natsu's grip and flashed him a warning glare. "I don't like when people touch me," she said, rubbing the spot he had touched. "And don't call me Luce! It's Lucy, or nothing at all!"

Natsu pouted at me. "Aw, come on! You're no fun," he complained, sounding like a child whose parent refused to play with them. "Well, I'll get you to open up eventually. Come on, the girls' dorms are on the second floor."

Natsu led the way up the right-hand staircase (There was one on the left too) and down a small hall where I could see the opening to the left-hand staircase at the end. Along the walls of the hall were photos of what I presumed to be the other girls who lived here. Natsu led me down a second, shorter hallway. The right side of the hall was lined with three doors, and each of them had a whiteboard on it with a name on it, sometimes two. "These are the bedrooms. There's another hall on the other side of the floor with rooms on the left. They're all identical. In all there are six rooms on each floor, and up to three people can live in each. None of the rooms have three people in them, though. Most only have two. I think Levy and Cana are the only ones without roommates yet."

I nodded absently, peeking into one of the open rooms. It was kind of small, but cozy for two people, with identical beds and furniture. I could definitely see where the room was split and that two people lived here.

Natsu flashed me a grin over his shoulder. "I think you would like Levy. She's really friendly and super smart. Judging by the number of bookshelves I saw in your apartment, you have the same love of reading. Levy is such a bookworm. Plus, she's really patient, and ridiculously clean. Really the perfect roomie."

"I see," I mused. She really did sound like a great roommate. Natsu led me down to the end of the hall, pausing at the thick door. "This door leads into the shower house and bathroom," he said, and turned to the door beside it. "This door leads into the girls' lounge." he smiled and opened the door, leading me into a large expanse of space lined with couches and tables. At the very front of the room was a large T.V. with a projector screen that pulled over it, and I noticed the projector hanging from the ceiling. There were computers lining the walls, for what I assumed was for school and leisure. "Nice," I commented with a nod.

"The boys' dorms are upstairs on the third floor," Natsu continued. "The second and third floors are identical, so I don't think I need to take you up there." he paused, scratching his head. "Besides, cleaning day isn't until tomorrow, so it's kind of… trashed." he shrugged. "So, what do you think?"

I thought for a moment, considering my options. This seemed like a nice place. From what I'd seen, the people were friendly and didn't seem to pry, which always suited me fine. Plus it was free; all I had to do was do some odd jobs and pay the school part of my earnings. Nothing I hadn't done before. I didn't like the idea of living with other girls much, but if it meant I could have a better life, some sacrifices were in order. "I approve," I answered with the smallest of smiles.

Natsu broke into a broad grin, one I was already familiar with, and clapped his hands enthusiastically. "Great! Well, if you have any questions, I'm sure Mira will be happy to answer. At the moment everyone is out on the back lawn for bonfire, but Gramps should be in his office." He waved for me to follow him, heading back down the hall and back down the stairs, walking into a room behind the bar. Inside, a small old man sat at a desk, looking over a small stack of paperwork. He looked up as we approached, and he smiled.

"You must be Lucy! Mirajane has informed me that you came by for a visit." he stepped down from his seat and stuck out his hand for me to shake. "My name is Makarov Dreyer, principal and landlord here. It's nice to meet you!"

Out of courtesy, I shook the old man's hand, quickly retracting it once I had done so. Makarov smiled at me and sat back down at his desk. "Now that you've had the tour, would you be interested in moving here sometime?"

Well he was certainly straightforward. But then again, I'd made my decision already. "Yes, sir, I would like to, as soon as is possible for you," I replied. I almost gagged at how polite I sounded, but it was customary for women to respect men when they were the dominant gender.

So my surprise, Makarov chuckled. "No need to be so polite, my dear. I know how strict custom is outside of here, but in Fairy Tail, we are all family. You may call me Gramps, or Makarov if you must." he paused, pulling out a small stack of papers and pushing them across the desk towards me. "There are just a few signatures I need before I can sign you up for a room here." he pointed out the spots where I needed to sign, and I obliged, pausing only to put myself between the papers and Natsu while I signed my last name. There was no need for him to know I was a Heartfilia. It would only spawn unwanted questions. "Here you are," I said when I had finished, sliding the papers back to Makarov.

Makarov filed the papers away. "Very good. At the moment the only open rooms are for Levy, Cana and Evergreen, but Evergreen prefers her own company… I think I'll pair you with Levy. She's been looking for a new roommate." he smiled and pulled a key from a hook behind his desk, holding it out to me. "This is your room key. Make sure to lock up before you leave on a job, just in case."

I accepted the key from him with a half-forced smile, tucking it into my pocket. "Thank you," I said. "I appreciate you putting me up."

Makarov rubbed his mustache thoughtfully. "We'll have to break that polite habit of yours. Well, that will come with time. In the meantime, I'll formulate a class schedule for you for this next school year. According to these papers, you're sixteen, so I'll put you in the junior class. Do you have anything to pick up from your former home?"

I nodded. "Just a few boxes worth," I replied. "Some clothing, books, mementoes, not too much."

"Very well. There are some boxes and a cart in the infirmary for just this kind of occasion. You can ask Mirajane for them."

Natsu grinned. "Awesome, you're in my class, Luce!" he exclaimed, looking too excited for this kind of revelation, I rolled my eyes. "I can help you move your stuff if you want."

I considered this for a moment. "Don't call me that," I said quickly. "But you know, I think I'll take you up on that offer," I said. "Does now work for you?"

Natsu glanced at his watch. "There's still an hour and a half until eleven o'clock curfew. If we go fast," he replied. "Come on, let's hurry!" Immediately he took off, pausing to talk with Mirajane for a moment before disappearing into a door behind the bar. He reemerged a moment later with a cart, the kind you would find in a supermarket, a pile of empty boxes inside. "Alright, this ought to do it," he said.

I led the way down the street and back to my apartment. I considered for a moment alerting my landlady that I was leaving, but shook my head, putting it off for later. I unlocked my apartment and went inside, flipping the lights on. "You can start with packing books, I suppose," I suggested, taking a box and opening my closet, pulling off hangers and sticking the clothing messily into the box.

Natsu nodded and began stripping the bookshelf, placing the books in the box with surprising neatness. For a moment we worked in silence, then Natsu called out to me. "Hey, Luce, what's this?" he asked. I glanced over my shoulders, spotting the box in his hands. The one with the strange key inside of it. After a moment I just shrugged.

"You can just put it with the rest of the books," I said, handing him a rubber band. "Use this to keep it closed. And stop calling me 'Luce' already. It's annoying."

Natsu took the rubber band and wrapped the box to keep it closed before slipping it into the box with the rest of my books. He grunted as he hefted the heavy box into the cart, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. "Geez, who knew books could be so heavy?" he sighed, stretching his arms.

I placed my box on top of his and labeled it "Clothing" before moving onto my bathroom. "Can you get the stuff from my desk? Just be careful with the fragile stuff," I said, bending down to grab the stuff from under my bathroom sink.

I hadn't been in there three seconds when I heard a crash from the other room "Shit!" Natsu cried, jumping into my view.

I straightened up. "What did you break?" I asked, pinching the bridge of my nose with a sigh.

Natsu flashed me a guilty look and bent over, picking up what used to be a picture frame. "I think I broke a photo," he replied. I took the frame from his hand and looked at it. Biting my lip, I realized that it was a photo of me when I was a kid, with my parents. Frowning, I tossed the photo into the box. "It's fine, I'll buy a new frame for it later," I said, pushing past him and back into the bathroom.

"Were those your parents?" Natsu asked. "I'm sorry I broke the frame."

I waved off his apology with my hand, piling more stuff into my box. "Forget about it. It was a cheap frame, and that photo isn't that important to me anyway," I said quickly, sealing up the box and lifting it up. I refused to meet Natsu's eyes as I pushed past him and added the third box to the pile. I then turned my attention to the pieces of glass on the ground. Sighing, I bent over to pick them up, throwing them in the trash.

Natsu added his box to our pile and glanced around. "I think that's everything," he commented, glancing at me. I just nodded wordlessly, gripping the handle of the cart to push it out the door. "Let's just go," I said, maybe a bit too harshly. Natsu frowned at me as we left my apartment, but wisely didn't say anything.

For a moment we were both silent, walking down the street, then Natsu spoke up. "I almost forgot!" He exclaimed, and I turned a curious gaze to him. He detached something from his wrist and held it out to me. It was a bracelet, a chain with a clasp as one end. In the center of the chain was the Fairy Tail insignia, hanging as a charm from the bracelet. "I was supposed to give this to you, Mirajane gave it to me. We all have one." he showed me his wrist, where his own bracelet hung, decorated with charms in the shapes of small fires. They were colored like fires as well, white in the middle, that faded to a vibrant red on the edges. "I know that in Fairy Tail, we're all supposed to be a family and everything, but outside of Fairy Tail, the world still insists that guys have more privileges than girls. The girls aren't allowed to take jobs unless they have one of the guys with them. We guys made these bracelets for the girls. If one of the guys meets you and decides they like you, they might give you one of their charms, so that others know you're under their protection. Hold out your wrist."

I raised an eyebrow at Natsu, but obliged, holding out my hand with my palm facing skyward. Natsu grinned and dipped the bracelet under my wrist, securing it at the top. "There, now I can do this," he said, reaching for his own bracelet and pulling off one of the fire-shaped charms. "Don't take this off now, you hear? Besides the Fairy tail insignia, this bracelet is the most important thing you need for jobs." He put out his hand and I allowed him to clip the charm to my bracelet, frowning slightly when his fingers brushed against my wrist. As you can probably tell, physical contact is not my forte.

"If that's all, can we go back now?" I asked, beginning to lose my patience with all this secrecy and nonsense. If I had to in order to earn money, I would wear the bracelet, but that was all.

Natsu nodded. "Let's go!" he yelled with a broad grin. "To Fairy Tail!"

He was such a child.


	3. Isn't That Nice?

**Hurray for chapter three! :3 This chapter introduces a lot of the characters, like Gray, Erza and Levy. Keep in mind that in this AU nobody can use magic! They have to rely on their physical strength to do jobs. Also keep in mind that in the world they live in, women are seen as lesser to men (except in Fairy Tail where they're family), so in order for women to work, they need to have a male partner to go with. Thank you all for the reviews, favorites and follows! I hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

**CierraTheAlaskanDragonSlayer: Your name is so long xD Without spoiling anything for later chapters, I will say that Lucy's dislike of hysical contect will definitely come into play later on when her backstory becomes clear. I was looking at charm bracelets at Charming Charlie's when I thought of the bracelet thing for this story. Every guys has their own kind of charm to give to their girls. I think most of the beginning of the story is going to focus on the Summer Break part of the year, and maybe delve into a bit of the school life later on, but we'll see. I have thirteen chapters written for this already xD Thank you so much for your beautiful review!**

**CuteFoxSage-NightShadeOwl: xD I know right? I love writing badass Lucy. All I'm really doing though is bringing out her reckless, noisy side more and kind of secluding her girly side (which is still there by the way, and will probably appear later). Most of the other characters are just like in the manga and anime, though.**

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><p>When I returned to Fairy Tail, I was surprised to see that, despite how late at night it was, the building was now teeming with people. Teenagers of all ages and sizes milled about the room, chatting a laughing with each other. It was a rather warm atmosphere.<p>

"Dragneel!" I looked up at the sound of Natsu's last name being called and spotted a dark-haired teen running towards us, a disapproving look on his face. "Dude, you skipped out on bonfire? You can't just do that!"

"Shut up, Fullbuster," Natsu retorted, glaring at the raven-haired boy. "I heard a noise, so I went to investigate. I've been hanging out with Lucy here." he jerked his thumb at me.

'Fullbuster' turned his gaze to me, apparently just realizing I was here. "A girl? You brought a girl here?" he said, and then he started to laugh. "Natsu brought a girl with him! That's hilarious!"

Natsu growled and socked the boy in the cheek, sending him sprawling. "I told you to shut up! I didn't ask for your two-cents. And don't laugh at Lucy either, she's gonna be living here now. So make a good impression!"

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms at the boys. This one seemed just as childish as Natsu. Fullbuster stood back up, scowling darkly at Natsu and rubbing his jaw. Then he turned to me with a strange expression and looked me over. "What's a decent, pretty girl like yourself doing with Natsu?" he asked. "It's not often he brings people here."

"He wouldn't leave me alone," I replied, frowning. "Mind introducing yourself? It's awfully rude of you to ask questions before I know your name."

For a moment the boy looked shocked, then he broke out into a grin. "Spunk. I like that. Name's Gray Fullbuster," he said as last. "And I could say the same thing to you. What's your name?"

"Natsu already told you. It's Lucy," I replied, placing my hand on my hip.

Gray frowned at me, crossing his arms. "What about a last name?" he asked.

Natsu touched his chin with his pointer finger, looking thoughtful. "I don't think she ever mentioned one," he mused. "What is your last name?"

"Not important," I replied harshly, waving off the two boys' questions. "I'm Lucy, just Lucy. That's all you need to know about me."

"Natsu, Gray, are you bothering the new girl?" a new voice interrupted our conversation,and I looked up, spotting a girl with shoulder-length blue hair approaching. She was wearing an orange dress, and a yellow headband held her hair out of her face, a pair of red-rimmed reading glasses perched on her nose. She frowned disapprovingly at the pair of boys. "Go make yourselves useful, I'll take over from here. Shoo!" she waved away the two. Natsu looked reluctant to leave, but eventually he did so, muttering something under his breath.

The girl let out a refreshed breath and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before turning to me with a smile. "Sorry about them. They tend to be pushy," she said, and held out her hand. "I'm Levy McGarden, your new roommate. I thought I should introduce myself."

For a moment, a small smile graced my features, but I quickly pushed it away before shaking Levy's hand. "Good to know some of the girls here have some manners," I commented. "I'm Lucy. Like you said, I'll be your roommate."

Levy gave me a small smile before her eyes wandered to my wrist. For a moment she looked confused, then she gasped and seized my wrist, pulling it to her face. So much for manners. "Is this Natsu's charm?" she demanded, a look of utter shock on her face.

I resisted the urge to hit the girl in front of me. _Even if no one else has manners, you should maintain yours,_ I told myself, clenching the hand Levy gripped into a fist. Physical contact was not my strong point. "Uh, yeah. He gave it to me at my apartment."

Levy nodded, turning around and finally releasing my wrist. I held it against my chest protectively. "Girls, meet in the lounge!" she called. "The newbie is here!"

The large group seemed to split in half at Levy's command, and girls began to flock up the stairs. I blinked. To think that one girl could have so much influence over the girls here. Levy shooed me towards the group despite my insistence that she tell me what was going on, and continued to push me up the stairs until we were in the girls' lounge.

A red-haired girl stood at the front of the group, a stern look on her face as the women seated themselves on the couches. Levy pulled me down beside her on the couch, flashing me a smile. I squirmed in my seat, feeling uncomfortable at the attention the other girls were giving me.

Once everyone was seated, the red-haired woman raised her hand and cleared her throat. The room immediately went silent. "It has come to my attention that we have a newbie here," she began, gesturing to where I was sitting. "We, as women of Fairy Tail, would like to welcome her to our home. My name is Erza Scarlet, president of the women's section of Fairy Tail and also senior class president. Would you please stand and introduce yourself?"

Erza looked down at me expectantly, and I stood up warily, my arms crossed defensively. "My name is Lucy. Just Lucy," I replied, before hastily sitting back down.

"At this point, my vice-president Levy McGarden would like to make an announcement," Erza said, not bothering to ask about my last name, to which I said a silent prayer of thanks.

Levy stood then, smiling at Erza and nodding her head. The scarlet-haired woman took her seat next to me, flashing me a small smile. Levy cleared her throat. "It has come to my attention that along with the newcomer Lucy, Natsu Dragneel has given away one of his charms," she announced. There was a collective gasp in the room followed by several excited murmurs.

"What does this mean?" A brunette called from where she was sitting across the room from me.

"Well, Cana," Levy began, addressing the brunette. "I don't exactly know. These charms signify that we are under the protection of the man who has issued the charm. But as you all know, Natsu has never taken an interest in taking a woman as his partner, or anyone for that matter."

I frowned. All of this was confusing me. Weren't they overreacting a bit? "Why is it so strange that Natsu gave me his, uh, charm?" I asked.

Levy turned to me then. "Natsu has never given out a charm before. He prefers to work by himself. He just couldn't find someone to keep up with him. Until now, apparently," she replied.

I stared down at the charm bracelet, fingering Natsu's charm. Did I even want to be his partner? Without it, I couldn't do any work, but this meant I had to put up with Natsu. I sighed. What a load of trouble this was turning out to be.

Erza stood up then, seemingly feeling my mood. "I think that's enough for today. Meeting adjourned," she spoke up, overriding any comment Levy might have had. With a sigh the blue-haired girl returned to me. "Sorry about that, but Natsu giving away one of his charms is kind of a monumental occurrence," she said with a shy smile.

I raised my hand, allowing a brief smile onto my face to show her there were no hard feelings. "Do you have any charms?" I asked.

Levy nodded and pulled back the sleeve of her dress to show me her bracelet. Like me, she had charms, three of them. One was shaped like a shoe for some reason, and the other was a leaf. I couldn't tell what the third one was. "The shoe is Jet's and the leaf is Droy's," she explained, seeing my confused look. "This third one is Gajeel's. It's a nail." she rolled her eyes. "I go out on jobs with Jet and Droy a lot, but sometimes Gajeel asks me to come with him. Usually it's so that I can crawl into a small space for him."

This time I couldn't suppress the faint grin on my lips. Levy returned my mediocre smile with one of her own, hers much brighter and friendlier than mine. "Enough of the boys' silly code," she said, waving her hand in a gesture of finality. "Let's get you settled into your room!" When Levy grabbed my wrist this time, I didn't pull away. I still felt the urge to pull away, but I pushed it back. I let Levy lead me out of the lounge and into our room, where she closed the door behind her.

I took a step forward, examining the room. It was kind of like a hotel room, with two beds along one wall and dressers along the other, with a television in between. Two identical nightstands sat between the queen sized beds. "This is nice," I commented. Walking inside, I spotted the pile of boxes next to the empty bed. Natsu must have brought them up for me.

"Looks like Natsu brought your stuff up already," Levy commented, echoing my thoughts. "That was sweet of him."

I shrugged, pulling out a box that contained various knickknacks from my desk back at my apartment. "He seems like a decent guy," I replied truthfully.

Levy seated herself on what could only be her bed. There were a few books scattered about her untidy covers, open to different pages, and a pad of paper and pen sat beside them, a few scribbled notes on top. "He's a nice guy, if a bit… eccentric," she said. "Plus, he's super strong and a master of martial arts. He'll make you a great work partner and he's a great teacher. After all, you have to learn some of our fighting skills."

"I can handle myself," I assured. "Although I'm not nearly as good without my whip. Some bastard tried to rob me and cut it in half." I scowled at the memory.

So my surprise, Levy laughed. "A whip is an unusual weapon," she said. "In basic training, we help you find a weapon that suits your natural skills, and also some hand-to-hand and kickboxing, just in case. Maybe we can pitch in some money to find you a good whip, though, and then you can show us some moves!" she smiled brightly at me.

The people here smiled so much that it almost made me uncomfortable. My home growing up had always been a sad place. Father buried himself in his work and the staff rarely smiled, except maybe for Ms. Spetto, but even she was depressed sometimes. Mother was the only one who truly loved that place. I opened up the box I had pulled out. Sitting on top was the picture of my family. My father stood on the right side with Mom on the left, and I was perched on my father's shoulders,the brightest smile on my face. How long had it been since I had smiled like that, with such radiance? The thought made me frown sadly, and I let out a small sigh.

Levy looked over my shoulder at the photo. "Is that you?" she asked. "You're so cute!" she smiled at me. "Are those your parents?"

I gave a small nod in response. "Yeah. This picture was taken eight years ago, before my mom died," I replied, setting the photo, freed of its usual frame, on my nightstand. "It's the only picture we ever took as a whole family." I shook my head, realizing what I was doing. Sometimes I had a habit of being depressing. "Sorry. You probably weren't asking for my life story."

Levy gave me a reassuring smile. "No worries. Natsu told you this is a home for orphans, right? We've all gone through our share of heartache. My parents died in a fire when I was still little." she lifted up the hem of her shirt, a long, thin scar running down her right side and over her hip. "I was there when it happened."

I stared at the scar in shock. When I came here, I hadn't anticipated that all of these teens, these smiling, happy people, would have such heartache in their lives. "How can you still smile so much after all that?" I asked.

Levy shrugged. "Maybe it's because I was young, and I got over it quickly, but it also helped that I had these friends here to help me." she paused, touching her chin with her finger thoughtfully. "You know, they have a saying here. 'Scars are reminders that you're a survivor.' Isn't that nice?"

I reached up reflexively to flick a tear away from my eye. It was a surprise, really. I hadn't cried in a long time. After my mother's death, I became a bit like a statue, unfeeling, irritable, stone-cold.

Kind of like I am now.

"Yeah, it's really nice," I whispered, my voice wavering with emotion I hadn't felt in a long time. I turned away from Levy, hiding my face, and stood up. "I'm going to go to bed," I said quickly, climbing into bed without bothering to change my clothes. "I'll unpack in the morning."

"Oh, well, okay," Levy replied, sounding disappointed, but she didn't push it. "I might stay up a little, but I'll try not to keep you up. Good night, Lucy."

"Good night, Levy."


	4. I Would Have Stayed In Bed

**I really like this chapter. Lucy's initiation into Fairy Tail happens now :3 I hope you all enjoy it! Please drop a review if you like it!**

**CuteFoxSage-NightShadeOwl: The way I see it is that he does throw them around, but they all end up giving them back to him. That's a story that gets brought up later, and you learn more about Natsu's social/antisocial personality. It's complicated.**

**Ebony: Thank you! c:**

**xxchatonxx: Wow, I've never had a foreign reviewer before O_O Well, I'll do my best with Google Translate xD Merci beaucoup! Je ne l'ai jamais eu un examen français avant! Je espère que vous continuerez à soutenir cette histoire!**

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><p>It had been a week since I joined Fairy Tail. The days seemed to blend together as I became accustomed to life here and began to blend in. It was Friday morning when I was awoken by someone shaking me by the shoulders. "Wake up, Lucy," the person whispered into my ear.<p>

My eyes snapped open, my eyes meeting with the deep brown orbs of my roommate, Levy. I hastily sat up, shaking her hands from my shoulders in the process, and rubbed my eyes. "Levy? What the hell are you doing, waking me up at this ungodly hour?" I demanded, flashing her a sharp glare. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. "It's five-thirty in the morning, in the middle of summer!"

"It's time for your initiation," Levy replied, holding a finger to her lips with a sly smile. She tossed a lump of clothing onto my lap. "I hope you don't mind, I pulled these out of your box. Change quickly and then come to the lounge. I'll be waiting there."

I opened my mouth to say something, to reject her offer, but Levy dashed out the door hastily, leaving me in my clothes, tussled from sleep, still half-asleep. Sighing, I ran my fingers through my bedhead and reluctantly dragged myself out of bed, scooping up the clothing Levy had set out with my other hand. They were pajamas, dark blue ones with lighter designs. I sighed heavily, throwing on the outfit and tossing my rumpled clothes in a corner to pick up later. I ran a hand through my bedhead, silently cursing my blue-haired roommate as I did. Heading out of my new bedroom, I headed down to the lounge, pushing the door open.

The normally brightly lit, large room, was now dim, lit only by a circle of candles set on the ground. In the center stood Erza. "Isn't that a fire hazard?" I questioned, gesturing to the candles.

Erza smiled. "Don't worry, I've done this before," she assured. Not encouraging. "Welcome, Lucy. Tonight is the night in which you will truly be accepted into Fairy Tail."

"And how do you plan on doing this whole "initiation" thing?" I asked, kicking the ground with my heel.

Erza grinned. "A series of tests to prove your worth," she replied. "Tests of faith, honesty and trust. The end result is the completion of your Fairy Tail initiation."

Fairy, honesty and trust. It didn't seem so hard. "Lay it on me," I said, with more confidence than I felt.

As soon at the words escaped my mouth, a cloth tied around my eyes blinded me. "Begin the test of faith!" I heard Levy call, and I recognized her as the one who had blindfolded me.

"Reach out and place your hand into the bowl," Erza instructed. I rolled my eyes behind the cover of my blindfold. "What's in it?"

Levy spoke up then. "Can't tell you. That's why it's a test of faith," she replied.

I scowled at the words, but tentatively reached out and put my hand into the bowl. The items inside were small and plastic, and in all different shapes. Picking out a random object, I pulled it out and pushed up my blindfold. The item I held was a plastic hand, hardly bigger than the pad of my thumb.

"Left hand!" Erza announced. A chorus of cheers followed her words.

"The hell…" I began, but Erza cut my off. "Secondly, the test of honesty," she announced. "Lucy, name the first color that comes to mind."

"Pink," I replied immediately. Pink? Where did that come from?

Erza grinned. "Excellent. The third test-"

"Whoa, wait," I interrupted. "Exactly how is naming a color a test of honesty?"

Levy gave me a smile. "Having you give an answer off the top of your head makes it a more honest answer," she explained. "If you had thought about it, would you have still said pink?"

It sounded like bull crap to me, but I said nothing. "Alright then, continue," I sighed.

"The third test is of trust. Line up, girls!" Erza commanded. Immediately all the girls in the room began to form a pair of lines, reaching out to create a sort of net of arms. Erza joined it, turning her head to look at me. "Run forward and jump into our arms. We'll catch you," she explained.

I shook my head swiftly. No way was I going to do that! I'd probably break my leg or something. "No thanks!"

Levy pouted at me. "Don't you trust me?" she called.

I hesitated. "Yes… No… I don't know!" I replied, beginning to feel frustrated. I turned my back on them and crossed my arms.

"If you want, I can explain the physics behind this," Erza suggested, in a way only she can. I sighed, turning on my heel. "No need," I replied irritably. "Just… don't drop me."

Levy gave me a reassuring smile. "We've never dropped anyone before. When I did this, there were only four others here, and we were all kids!"

Surprisingly, that made me feel a little better. I began to run, and when I got close, I jumped, flipping onto my back as I did. I pinched my eyes shut tightly, awaiting the impact, but all I felt was a small heave as I landed in the womens' apparently capable hands.

Levy grinned down at me as they set me upright. "See? That wasn't so bad," she said, patting me on the shoulder.

"I don't like trusting my safety to others," I replied with a small scowl. "But I guess you were right."

Erza smiled warmly at me. "Congratulations! You have successfully completed the Fairy Tail initiation. Just so you know, the guys have to do the same thing when they join. We all did it." she paused, turning to where a brunette was chatting with Mirajane. "Cana! Get the stamp!" she called. "Pink!"

I raised an eyebrow at Erza questioningly, and the redhead winked at me before accepting a machine from Cana. It was like one of those little cheap stamps you can buy for a dollar, but much bigger, and more high-tech looking. "This stamp is what creates the insignia for Fairy Tail," she explained, turning to show me her exposed left arm, where the insignia was posted in red. "Because your honest answer was pink, that's the color you get. No changing! Give me your left hand."

I groaned. Of all colors, why pink? I wasn't anti-pink, but it was a bit girly for my taste. I tended to consider myself a tomboy. Shaking my head, I held out my hand anyway, deciding not to argue.

Erza pressed the stamp against my hand for a few seconds, and when she lifted it, the insignia of Fairy Tail was printed on my left hand. "Interesting," I commented, rubbing my fingers over the stamp. "The ink dries instantly."

Erza nodded. "It's a formula that the original owner of this place created. It's permanent except for a certain mix of chemicals that can get it off. It's waterproof and won't smudge."

"That's… pretty cool," I admitted, admiring my new mark. It was in the shape of a fairy with a tail, corresponding with the name of the school and the insignia on the front of the building.

Levy nodded agreement. "We all have one," she explained, turning around and pulling away the neck of her shirt to reveal the white mark on her shoulder blade. "We all went through the same initiation as well. Even the boys pick their marks that way."

I nodded in understanding. "I see. So it's completely random," I clarified. That was an interesting way of doing things Then again, I had already figured out that Fairy tail threw all common sense and organization out the window. It all made a twisted sort of sense.

Levy giggled. "Congratulations, Lu! You're now officially a member of Fairy Tail!"

Lu? What was up with Fairy Tail and nicknames? First that overly-energetic Natsu with Luce, and now Levy and Lu. I shook my head. I suppose Levy could get away with it. She was mature and sophisticated. So I ignored her name for me, in favor of offering up a small smile. "Great. Can I go back to bed now?" I asked, suddenly feeling very tired.

"Of course," Levy replied in amusement. She turned to the group with a smile. "The initiation is complete. Everyone back to their rooms!"

The group parted like the Red Sea at Levy's dismissal, half heading to the right side of the room and the other to the left. I followed Levy out of the left-hand door and down the hall to the third door, walking inside. Instantly I made my way to my bed, and collapsed on it, sighing contentedly. Why did they have to do this in the middle of the night anyway? I didn't think about it too long, though, because within minutes I was asleep.

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><p>My clock's alarm went off two hours later at eight in the morning. it was needless to say I was still quite exhausted from last night's… events.<p>

Levy had already woken early and left,. but between her bed and mine was a box, about the size of a shoe box. I frowned. reading the tag on the lid.

"To Lucy, from the girls," Lucy read, and raised her eyebrows in surprise. Curious, I grasped the lid and pulled it up. When I saw the contents,I gasped.

Inside the box was, for lack of better words, the most beautiful whip I had ever seen. It looked freakishly expensive and well-made, with a shiny steel handle and a braided leather rope with a forked end. I held my breath, thoroughly surprised, and reached out to cradle the whip's handle gently, bringing it out of the box so that I could examine it. The handle had a leather grip on it, and engraved into the leather in gold lettering was my name. Only my first name, of course, as no one bothered to ask for my last name anymore, but it was still beautiful. Did I mention how expensive it looked? Pulling the whip out of its case, I clipped it to my waist like I had done with my other one, sighing at the familiar weight. It had been far too long.

I had a smile on my face as I walked out of the room and down the stairs to the main floor. Glancing towards the bar, I spotted Natsu. He had already noticed me, and he grinned at me and stood up to meet me.

"Luce! You're finally up!" he exclaimed cheerfully.

I scowled at the pink-haired boy. "Don't call me that. I'm Lucy," I scolded.

I was utterly ignored by the pink-haired male. "I heard your initiation was last night. Did you pass?" he asked anxiously. His eyes were shining in excitement.

I nodded and held up my hand for Natsu to see, my brand new pink insignia showing. "It was a piece of cake," I said. "I just wish I hadn't chose pink."

"What's wrong with pink?" Natsu asked with a frown.

It took me a moment to remember that Natsu's hair was pink, and I sighed. He was like a self-conscious child when it came to his hair. "Nothing," I replied. "It's just me, is all." I waved off his argument, pushing past him and towards the bar, where Mirajane was serving drinks to the early partiers; Cana, Macao and Wakaba. I sat down at the bar, sighing softly and resting my elbows on the table.

Apparently Natsu was bad at taking hints, because he plopped down beside me, saying a quick hello to the other people at the bar. Cana I remembered as being a fellow student, but Macao and Wakaba were teachers, and I hadn't met them before. Shaking my head, I glanced sideways at Natsu. "Do you need something?" I asked.

Natsu grinned at me. "We're partners, right? I thought we could go out on a job today," he answered. "Plus, it's a good opportunity to teach you how the jobs here at Fairy Tail work. There's a specific way to do things here."

I hesitated a moment, considering this. It was true that without Natsu I had no way to make money, because Fiore viewed women as incapable and would certainly turn me away. I had no one else to go with, either. At the same time, I wasn't so sure about doing work with Natsu. I was more worried that he'd screw things up for me than that he would get hurt, or get in the way, or anything like that. I didn't want him to hold me back. I sighed; it wasn't like I had a choice in the matter. "Alright, I'll go on a job with you," I relented finally.

If Natsu's grin were any brighter, I probably would have gone blind. He grabbed my wrist and tugged me out of my chair, much to my discomfort, dragging me away from the bar and towards the tall bulletin board set up beside it. Pinned to the board were several pieces of paper depicting jobs. I yanked my hand from natsu's grip with a scowl. "I can walk myself, thanks," I grumbled, rubbing my wrist as though his touch had burned my skin.

For a moment, Natsu looked hurt, but the expression quickly dissipated, and me gave me an apologetic look. "Sorry, forgot about that," he said, turning to the board. He hummed thoughtfully as he examined the different jobs. I hung back slightly, taking a seat at a nearby table. Being new here and not knowing the way jobs worked, I allowed Natsu to take the reigns and choose the job for us.

It was needless to say that he took _forever._ I frowned, staring at Natsu's back and tapping my foot impatiently, as if he would somehow feel my silent message; "Hurry up!"

I only looked away when a person approached me. I remember him as the boy who fought with Natsu on my first day. "Gray Fullbuster," I said as a sort of greeting. "Can I help you?" the words came out with more spite and irritance that I intended.

Gray didn't seem fazed by my short temper, and took a seat beside me. "Got stuck on a job with Natsu?" he guessed. "I can tell by the way you're glaring at him. I only went on one job with him before I decided it wasn't worth it."

I glanced at Gray incredulously. "You and Natsu went on a job?" I echoed disbelievingly. "You two can't even look at each other without fighting."

Gray shrugged. "Master thought we ought to try it. As soon as he got the bill for all the property damage we caused, though, he reconsidered." he grinned mischievously.

I nodded, picking a bit of dirt from underneath my thumbnail. "So did you just come here to keep me company, or are you actually here for an intelligent reason?" I asked rather sarcastically.

"Ouch," Gray laughed. "Actually, I came to ask you something." he paused, glancing towards where Mira was sitting at the bar. "Has Mira given you your rank yet?"

I glanced at Gray in confusion. "Rank?" I repeated. "No, I don't think so. What are ranks?"

"Ranks determine the kind of jobs you can take," Gray explained. "Typically newbies start out as a D-class member until they can prove their loyalty and skill and move up ranks." he glanced to where Natsu was still at the job request board. "Natsu and I are both A-class members. The only step up from that is S-class, but Master is very particular about who can be S-class. There are only five of them in the whole school. Mira and Erza are two of them, along with Laxus Dreyer, Gildarts Clive and Jellal Fernandes. You have to pass the yearly test to make S-class, though, and I've heard it's really tough."

"I see," I murmured. "So it's safe for me to assume that the jobs are ranked as well, so you know what best suit you?" I said. "That makes sense. That way it's easier to find jobs of your experience level."

Gray nodded. "The ranks are chosen based on your initiation, typically, and there's usually a hand-to-hand and weapons combat test as well, just so we know where to start you off."

"How come you wanted to know my rank?" I asked.

Gray grinned and reached into his sleeve, pulling off his bracelet, like the one that I now wore. Attached to his bracelet were several blue charms shaped like cubes. "They're ice cubes," he explained. "These are my charms, that will let you be able to work with me, if you want. The reason I asked about your rank is because the guys typically give out charms to girls of the same rank, and sometimes of lower rank if they find the person useful or just want to go on a job with them. I figure you're at least B-class, though, so this shouldn't make a difference either way." he held out one of his charms for me. "What do you say? Be my partner?"

I shrugged and accepted the charm, clipping it to my bracelet along with Natsu's. "Sure, why not?" The more partners I had, the easier it would be to go on jobs.

If only I knew how much trouble this was going to be, I would have just stayed in bed.


	5. All A Lie

**Five chapters, woohoo! So far so good, right? xD I hope you enjoy the chapter! You get to hear a bit of Natsu's and Lucy's backstories.**

**Silvaze4everand1: What books? o_o I'm confused xD Lucy is indeed in a lot of trouble lol**

**xxchatonxx: Do you speak english? Sorry! It's hard to tell when you post in another language... ^^' Well, thank you!**

**CuteFoxSage-NightShadeOwl: lol, thanks!**

**Maria: Thank you! I will update next Saturday.**

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><p>"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!"<p>

"You idiot! I'll deck you!"

Mirajane watched, impressed, as I chased Natsu in circles around the guild hall. "I don't think I've ever seen her this angry before," she commented thoughtfully.

Gray shivered slightly. "She reminds me of Erza. Who knew she had that kind of temper?" he added from his spot at the bar.

Natsu seemed to be getting the same vibe as Gray, because there was an unusual expression of fright on his face as he hopped one of the tables in an attempt to get away from me. "I was only messing around, I swear! I didn't mean to set the client on fire!" he insisted, hiding behind Erza's chair, where the red-haired woman was chatting with Lisanna.

Immediately Erza dropped everything and stood up, emitting a very unsettling aura. "What idiotic thing have you gone and done this time?" she growled, seemingly pulling a sword out of midair. "If you have done something to upset our newest member so much, I swear to God…"

"It was an accident!" Natsu cried out, scrambling out of range of Erza's blade. "Lucy! I promise that I'll make it up to you! Please don't kill me!"

What was with that puppy-dog face? I sighed loudly and pinched the bridge of my nose, clenching my teeth and resisting the urge to throttle the pink-haired bastard right then and there. "Alright, fine. Just this once, I'll let you off the hook. But don't expect any mercy next time!"

I could see Natsu relax physically at my words, and Erza seemed to calm down as well, returning her sword to its sheath and sitting back down. I sighed and rubbed my temples. "I need coffee," I muttered, making my way over to the bar. "And then a nap."

Mirajane smiled as I approached, sliding a mug of my favorite coffee towards me. I blinked in surprise. After only a few days, she was already able to tell exactly what I wanted. "Thanks," I said quickly, sipping the coffee. "No wonder Natsu had such a hard time finding a partner. If I hadn't been there, he probably would have set the client's house on fire too."

Mirajane laughed, a pretty laugh that seemed to make me feel a little better almost instantly. "Yes, Natsu will do that," she agreed, glancing towards where said man was already deep in a brawl with Gray and Gajeel. "I'm surprised, though. You're the first one, besides Erza, of course, to get him so worked up. It's not like Erza, though. I don't think he's afraid of you like he is of Erza. It's more like he doesn't want to upset you."

I raised an eyebrow at Mirajane around the rim of the coffee cup, prompting the young barmaid to continue.

"It's almost like he's afraid of disappointing you," Mirajane went on, waving her hand expressively. "If it were anyone else, he would have just started a fight."

That did sound like something Natsu would do. I shook my head, choosing not to dwell on it. "Thanks for the coffee, Mira. I'm going up to my room to study," I said, picking up the mug. "Is it alright if I take this with me?"

Mira smiled. "No problem," she replied with a wink. "Just bring the mug back down when you finish."

"Alright,: I said, taking the mug with both hands and making my way upstairs. I closed the door of my and Levy's room, sighing as I sat down on my bed and sat the coffee mug on the bedside table beside me. School here still wouldn't start for another several weeks, but I liked to get a head start on the basics before the first day. Opening up an Algebra 2 textbook, I flipped to the front and began to read.

Not twenty minutes into my studying, I was interrupted by a knock on the window of my room. Glancing up from my book curiously, I had to hold back a scream of shock when I spotted none other than my pink-haired partner, a grin on his face, perched on the thin sill outside the glass.

Closing the book, I stood up and stomped to the window, throwing it open with a furious glare to confront the idiotic teen. "What the hell are you thinking?" I yelled.

Natsu's grin broadened, brushing off my anger completely. "I live in the room above yours, so I thought I'd drop by and visit," he replied, as if that explained how he managed to get from his window to mine without falling to his death.

I sighed loudly. pinching the bridge of my noce. "And why, exactly, do you have to come in the window?" I demanded irately. He was really stretching my patience now.

"Guys aren't technically allowed on the second floor after dark, but I had to tell you something." he paused, running a hand through his hair with a sheepish smile. "I forgot to tell you earlier. Can I come in?"

Do I have a choice? I retorted in my head, but begrudgingly moved aside to allow space for Natsu to enter.

The pinkette stepped into the room, stretching his back with a contented sigh. He then surveyed the room, nodding. "Nice place," he commented, noting the many full bookcases that lined the walls.

I rolled my eyes, sitting back down on my bed. "What did you want to tell me?" I pressed, eager to be left in peace. I had had a long day of babysitting Natsu, and I was ready for a break from 'partner bonding time'.

Natsu perched himself on the wooden foot of my bed, crossing his legs so his right ankle rested on his left knee. "Tonight is bonfire! You have to come, it's a Fairy Tail tradition!" seeing her questioning look, he continued, "Every Friday night, we set up a huge fire outside and sit around it. It's our time to share news, stories, whatever. It's pretty much the only time the whole group of us are together in the summer, because everyone is so busy working and saving up money for later on. It's basically the most fun night of the week. Plus, there'll be food."

I snorted. That kind of bribery worked on some people, but not on me. I wasn't interested in food. "Maybe I'll come," I sighed distractedly, already turning my attention back to the open textbook on my bed.

"Great! I'll come pick you up in an hour and take you to the firepit," Natsu said, a little too enthusiastically for my taste.

"Sure," I replied quickly, raising my textbook to cover my annoyed glower. The last thing I felt like doing tonight was hang around a fire with other teens I hardly knew. Not to mention I was feeling particularly tired and irritable from my mission with Natsu today.

"Be back in an hour!" I expected to hear the sound of the room's door closing, but instead I heard the gentle squeak of the window being opened.

Lifting me head, I saw that Natsu was climbing back out the window the way he had come in. I groaned and slapped my forehead. "Natsu, what are you doing?" I muttered.

"Erza will kill me if she finds me wandering around the second floor this late at night," Natsu replied with a shiver. "So I'm just going to climb up to my room. I left the window open."

For a moment I considered stopping him, but then just shook my head. He said it so nonchalantly, I guessed he must have done something like this before. "Alright, just don't fall," I grumbled, returning to my book.

After a moment, the window closed and I saw Natsu disappear out of the corner of my eye. What an idiot. Why was I even worried that he would fall? it would just be one less headache for me.

Deep down, I knew I didn't mean what I thought. No matter how much I wanted to be, I wasn't that kind of heartless person. I couldn't deny the fact that theses people were starting to grow on me. That I would be sad if they got hurt, at least a little bit. That I might actually care for someone else again.

I sighed, closing my textbook. I was far too distracted to study now. I inwardly cursed Natsu again, standing up and checking my hair briefly in the mirror, readjusting my side ponytail and running my fingers through the free strands that framed my face and cascaded over my shoulders. The same blond hair that my late mother had, with the same ever-so-slight curls as my father. I scowled, pulling out the ponytail and gathered up my golden tresses, pinning them in a messy bun at the back of my head. Shaking my head, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Even the thought of him made me angry.

Glancing at the clock, I sighed. Natsu said he would come pick me up in an hour, so I had until then to enjoy my peace and quiet. Picking up my cell phone, probably the most expensive thing I owned, I plugged in a pair of plain white earbuds and pressed them into my ears, sighing as the sound of music immediately calmed me.

Collapsing on my bed, I clasped my hands behind my head and stared at the ceiling. As I did so, my attention was caught by a small flash of light from beside my bed and, rolling over, I saw that it was the key. The one that had appeared in my mailbox a week ago, when I left my apartment for Fairy Tail. It was hard to believe that a week had already passed. Sitting up, I leaned down and picked up the small velvet-lined box, cradling it gently in my hands. For some reason the sight of the ornate key made me feel as though it was valuable, though I couldn't see why. It was too light to be made of gold like its appearance suggested, and after tapping it, I discovered that the ruby at the center of the key's handle was plastic, nothing truly valuable.

It was a key, probably made of steel, without a keyhole to go with it. In essence, it was pointless, but I couldn't bring myself to throw it out. It held a sort of meaning to me, one that I didn't quite understand myself. Maybe someday I would find the hole that it fit into, but for now I set it on my nightstand, content to let it be a decoration. It was definitely pretty to look at.

Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was almost time for Natsu to pick me up. I stood up, sighing, and stripped off my work clothes, replacing them with a pair of light great sweat pants and a black tee-shirt. I picked up my belt, which was brown and had a special clasp on it for my ship, and looped it around my hips, tightening it with a sigh before I attached my new whip to it. I felt better with the familiar weight on my hip; I made a point of always wearing a weapon on me, just in case. You never know when you might need it, like I did back at my apartment during my almost-mugging.

Just like earlier, Natsu came into my room through my window, but this time I was expecting it, and kept the window unlocked. "Hey, Luce!" he greeted cheerfully, smoothing his hair out of his face. He was dressed in a white shirt with a red and fold label on it that read "Fairy Tail" along with the school's insignia, and a pair of long jeans that covered the tops of his sneakers. "Ready to go?" he asked.

"Don't call me that," I reprimanded with a glare. "It's Lucy. Not Luce, not Lu, just Lucy." I tugged on a jacket, adjusting my whip on my belt.

Natsu frowned. "You're no fun," he complained. "You mope around and you never smile. All you ever do is question things and scold people. You won't tell me your last name for some reason. and you act like everyone else is doing everything wrong. I don't get you!" he looked exasperated, his hands waving in expressive frustration.

I bit my lip, feeling the familiar guilt in my chest. This was why I wanted to be on my own. I refused to look at Natsu, knowing I'd most likely give in if I saw his face. Curse women and their sensitivity. "Maybe I don't smile because I have nothing to smile about," I replied coldly, stuffing my hands into my pockets. I made my way to the door, heading out into the hallway.

Natsu jogged to catch up with me, a troubled look on his face. "That's depressing," he muttered. "You know, you remind me of Erza when she was first recruited."

This comment caught my attention. Natsu was comparing me to Erza Scarlet? The kind, friendly, if somewhat scary, Senior Class President? Erza was nothing like me. "Why do you say that?" I asked.

"When Erza first came here eight years ago, she wouldn't talk to anyone unless it was to tell them to go away. She always sat by herself and she wouldn't make any friends," Natsu explained.

I frowned, glancing sideways at Natsu. "What made her… open up?" I questioned.

"Gray caught her sitting by the river. She was crying," Natsu replied, and his voice seemed to soften at the memories, a small, warm smile gracing his features. "After that, she just started to open up, I guess. I don't know what he said to her to change her mind, but it worked."

"I see," I muttered, looking up. I had no idea that Erza was like that, and it made me wonder what she had been through prior to coming here.

Natsu seemed to read my thoughts, at least partially. "All of us here come from pretty touch pasts. This is a home for orphaned teens, after all. We're what you could call "teen orphanage failures". We were all so different from the other kids that they kicked us out of the orphanages. Mot of us lived on the streets for a time before we found this place. Some of us went from foster home to foster home so many times that they gave up on us." he paused, smiling, which I found odd considering the fact that his story was pretty sad. "For most of us, either Makarov found us in an orphanage or on the streets, or we were brought here by another guild member."

I nodded slightly, turning my gaze to glance down the pathway the two of us were taking. "How did you end up here?" I asked. It wasn't like I cared about his past, but now he had made me curious.

Natsu paused, frowning. "It's not a happy story," he warned, but I just shrugged, motioning for him to continue. He ran his fingers through his hair. "I never knew my real, biological parents. They gave me up to foster care when I was just a newborn. I grew up in a really poor orphanage, and I was the oldest one there. The only other boy close to my age was my best friend, Sting. They two of us were like brothers." he smiled at the fond memories, his gaze softening. "One day, a man named Igneel came by, and he adopted me and Sting. We were more than happy to go; the orphanage we lived at was barely scraping by, and the workers there weren't too kind to us either." he paused, his small smile faltering. "We lived with Igneel for a few months after that. It was great, but then Sting got hurt. Really hurt. He didn't live two days after that." he bit his lip, and I could tell from the way he refused to meet my gaze that he was wrestling with his emotions. it was a feeling I knew quite well. "Igneel was devastated. He wouldn't tell me anything, but I know that he blamed me for what happened to Sting. He probably still does, if he's still alive. The next day, Igneel disappeared. He just left me behind. He didn't even leave a note, didn't bother telling me where he was going."

I felt bad for Natsu. Even though I knew I shouldn't, I felt bad about what had happened to him. I guess I'm still just a child after all. "How did you end up at Fairy Tail, though?" I pressed.

Natsu glanced up, finally meeting my gaze. "After a month, the landlord of our apartment came down to collect Igneel's late rent," he explained. "When he found out that Igneel had disappeared and left behind his son, he got angry and threw me out onto the streets, saying that he didn't want to deal with a kid like me when he had other problems. Gramps found me that night, crying and alone, and brought me back to Fairy Tail. I think I can honestly say that I owe him my life." After Natsu finished his story, he turned to me, a somewhat reluctant look on his face. "What about you?" he asked suddenly. "What made you who you are?"

I tensed, biting my lip, and hesitated. "There's not much to tell," I answered, looking away and letting my hair shield my face from Natsu's view. "My mom died when I was eleven, and my dad died soon after that. I lived with a relative for a while, and then I moved out when I was seventeen. I bought that apartment. Then I came here."

"Ah, I see," Natsu said sympathetically, and I secretly glowered at that. I didn't want his stupid sympathy. That's why I left.

Too bad the whole story was a lie.


	6. Bad Dream

**Not much to say about this chapter. Lots of Nalu fluff. I like it :3**

**Coolanime14: Thanks!**

**Maria: Thank you! I'm glad you like it!**

**Shugo fairy 4eva: lol, so many lies. Lucy you liar.**

**Kwenu14 (Chapter 2): Ah, yes! I found the Keys of Fire after I started writing this story (I started planning and writing this last spring, so almost a year ago lol) and I do read it. It's funny how there can be several stories with similar plotlines. I assure yo, though, this story will be very different from Keys of Fire. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Kwenu14: That's why I love writing Lucy so much. She's a very different and unique character, but she's also identifiable and I think this kind of character connects to a lot of readers. Thanks for reviewing, I'm glad you like it! Also, the age thing was a mistake. Thanks for pointing that out!**

**Silvaze4evrand1: Ah, I see! Lucy lies because it makes her life easier xD even though that's not even true ouo**

**CuteFoxSage-NightShadeOwl: Thanks! I love Lucy's character too :3**

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><p>"Ah, we're here," Natsu said with a grin. Pushing through the bushes in front of us, the light of a fire illuminated the space where trees had been cleared, and several wooden benches sat around the huge bonfire as several of the other students milled about, talking, playing games, or just hanging around.<p>

Natsu grinned at me once more and took my wrist, tugging me down onto the bench beside him. I didn't pull away or scold him like I usually would do, but I shot him a quick glare before looking around. On Natsu's other side sat a white-haired girl who I recognized as Lisanna, the only one with siblings who also lived at Fairy Tail with her. She seemed like a nice girl, but much too peppy and enthusiastic for my taste. Letting my eyes wander, Is potted Levy and Erza at the front of the clearing. "Do Erza and Levy always lead the meetings?" I asked, remembering that the red-haired woman was the Senior Class President.

Natsu nodded. "Erza and Levy are the Class President and Vice President of the student body. Most of the meetings that happen here are either run by Erza or Laxus, Makarov's grandson. Usually Erza though," he replied. "She thinks she's so great just because she's the president. One of these days I'm gonna beat her in a fight and overthrow her."

I glanced at Natsu incredulously. "You want to be Senior Class President? And you're going to fight Erza for it?" I snorted.

"If that happens, we're all in trouble," Lisanna giggled.

"I'm stronger than Erza! I could do it easily!" Natsu insisted with a glare and a pout.

I shook my head, sighing. So childish. "Why am I sitting with you?" I questioned, though I can't deny that I had to fight the smile that rose to my face.

"Because we're partners!" Natsu insisted, as if that explained it. "We should be friends, right? So we should always sit together."

I found Natsu's childish response most unsatisfying. "Then what about Gray? He's my partner, too," I pointed out, lifting my right hand to show him the bracelet, where his and Gray's charms hung next to each other.

Natsu gawked at me. "Are you kidding? When did you agree to be partners with that prick?" he exclaimed. "You can't be partners with Gray! I'm your partner!"

I scowled at the comment, tugging my sleeve down to cover my bracelet. "Who are you to decide who I can and can't partner with?" I demanded. "And I can have more than one partner! The more I have, the more work I can do."

"I brought you here, and I was your partner first. I should have a say in what happens to you." Natsu crossed his arms stubbornly, glaring right back at me.

"I only agreed to be your partner because if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to work," I retorted. "Just because you brought me here doesn't mean you own me! I'm not an object you can lay claim on!" By now my voice had risen to a yell, and I was drawing the attention of the others. I didn't care, though. Natsu's comment had really hit a sore spot, and I was angry, damn it! "You can't control my life! I won't let you!"

The clearing was eerily silent. I was standing, my fists clenched at my side, and I was breathing hard, as if just speaking had been an exertion for me. Natsu looked stunned, even a little hurt, and as I turned to look, I saw that the other teens had similar expressions on their faces. Lisanna was the first to act, reaching out to touch my shoulder lightly. "Lucy, are you alright?" she asked softly, looking worried.

I cursed under my breath, tearing my shoulder from Lisanna's grasp, angry at myself for getting so frustrated so easily. "I need to go lay down," I muttered, stuffing my hands in my pockets and walking swiftly from the clearing. As I disappeared around the corner, I heart Natsu call my name, but I ignored him, picking up my pace. I didn't go back to my room, though. It would be too easy for the others to find me there. I knew they would try to come after me anyway. Instead, I headed towards the river, which was technically a canal, but I didn't really care at this point. I sat down at the very edge of the water, not bothering to respond when the cold water lapped at my feet and made the inside of my shoes wet. I hugged my knees to my chest, sighing loudly.

I uttered a long string of curse words under my breath as I laid my forehead on my knees, clenching my teeth. I knew this would happen. I knew it as soon as I agreed to go with Natsu to Fairy Tail. I'd let my guard down, if only for a moment, and my emotions had run rampant. I was sure to be the center of everyone's questions now. "Damn it, Natsu," I sighed, lifting my head and smoothing my hands down my face, looking out into the water. "Why'd you have to bring that up?" I shivered as a cold breeze blew over the water, making a shiver run down my back. Winter was approaching.

"Lucy? You out there?" I cringed slightly at the voice that echoed in my ears. Natsu. Of course he would come after me. I kept my mouth shut tight, willing him to leave me be, but it appears fate hates me today, because he found me easily, nestled down on the riverbank with my back turned to him.

I waited for him to say something first, because I sure as hell didn't feel like making small talk, but to my surprise, he didn't bombard me with questions. Instead, I heard him approach me, and I spotted him sitting down beside me out of the corner of my eye. There was a rustling of fabric, and then I felt Natsu's hand brush against my shoulder as he laid his jacket over my back. "You'll catch a cold if you sit out here in the cold without a jacket," he murmured.

I muttered a quick thank-you, tugging the edges of Natsu's zip-up hoodie around me, and the two of us descended into silence. It was Natsu who broke the silence a few minutes later. "I'm sorry if I offended you," he said. "I say stupid stuff sometimes. Okay, a lot, but who cares? Anyway, I'm sorry."

I sighed, letting myself relax, and glanced sideways at Natsu. He looked guilty, his hands wrapped around his knees, and he wouldn't meet my gaze. "It's okay. It's not your fault," I replied. "Besides… I wasn't one hundred percent honest with you, earlier."

Natsu visibly relaxed at this, a flash of relief crossing his eyes. It was obvious that he was worried I would still be angry, and my forgiveness was easily accepted. He let his legs slide down, crossing them at the ankle, and he stuck his arms out behind him to prop himself up. "You weren't?" he echoed, frowning, and turned to look at me. "You mean, about your family?"

I nodded. "My childhood life was actually pretty good," I admitted. "My parents had a lot of money, so I was pretty spoiled. It was a happy home, pretty typical." I paused, my frown deepening. "My dad wasn't the most… morally clean man. He drank a lot, and slept around. When my mother found out he had cheated on her countless times, she got really angry. It was their only fight in their marriage. In a drunken rage, he shot her. In the head." my voice dropped to a whisper, and I turned my head away, taking a shaky breath to prepare myself. "I was there when the gun went off. I saw him fire the shot that killed my mother. After that, he turned the gun on himself and committed suicide. You can guess what happened after that."

"You left," Natsu murmured. "Mavis, Lucy, I didn't know…"

"I didn't leave right away," I interrupted. "I lived with my father's brother for a few years, but they only wanted to marry me off to earn them a profit. They controlled every aspect of my life. After three years of that, I finally left. I was fourteen."

Natsu swore under his breath, letting his head drop into his hands. "Lucy, I'm so sorry about what I said. I didn't realize-"

I held up a hand to cut Natsu off. "Don't apologize. It's not your fault; you didn't know," I insisted. "Just… don't tell anyone, okay? I haven't told anyone else this story, so… can it be our secret?"

"Of course. My lips are sealed," Natsu promised, pretending to zip his lips shut and lock them. I flashed him a grateful look before turning back towards the river.

"You finally smiled." I blinked; up until now, I hadn't realized the small pull I felt in my lips. I quickly dispersed the feeling, raising my hand to press it against my chest. My heartbeat had sped up, and I could feel my skin prickling oddly. What the hell? When had that happened? I inched my way towards the river, glancing down at my reflection. There was a faint flush on my cheeks, probably not noticeable unless you were looking for it.

I swallowed, backing up and sitting down once more. "I think you're hallucinating," I replied, but my voice lacked the confidence I had hoped to display.

Natsu laughed out loud, grinning at me. "You know, you look a lot prettier when you smile. All that frowning is giving you wrinkles," he commented.

I scowled, but when I reached out to grab Natsu and pound him, I realized he had already stood up and was safely out of range. "You shitty friend!" I yelled, pushing myself to my feet to chase after my idiotic partner. "Get back here so I can beat you up!"

Natsu laughed again, turning and dashing for the main building. "Only if you catch me first!" he called over his shoulder.

It took a long time, but I finally managed to catch Natsu by the back of hi shirt after a very long, very intense game of cat-and-mouse. After I was finished with him, Erza lectured him for a solid ten minutes about how to treat a lady and then sent him to his room, as if she was his mother. Needless to say, it made me want to smile just watching his torture after that insult. Wrinkles, my ass! I'd been fine the last six years!

Needless to say, Natsu effectively wore me out after that, and I retired to my bedroom an hour earlier than I had planned. It took me all of a minute to change my clothes into my pajamas and climb into bed, snuggling under the covers with a contented smile. Within five minutes, I was asleep.

* * *

><p>The next time I woke, it was still dark outside, and it was the sound of hushed muttering that woke me up. As soon as I heard the voice, I froze, my eyes opening. Was it Levy, up in the middle of the night? Or was it something worse, like a stalker, or a rapist? I forced myself to calm down and hone in on the sound. By the sound of the muttering, I guessed the perpetrator was male, roughly my size by the sound of his footsteps. I frowned; there was something familiar about the way he spoke under his breath.<p>

Slowly, very slowly, I inched my feet towards the edge of the bed, lifting my head only slightly to see that the man was wearing a hooded jacket with the hood pulled over his head. His back was turned to me, and I allowed a sly smile onto my face. I threw the covers off my stealthily, sneaking with a practiced silence that I had mastered as a child.

As I neared the man, he seemed to pick up on my advances, because he whirled around and grabbed my arm, tugging me forward and towards the ground. I grunted and spun around expertly, hooking his legs with my own slim leg and effectively tripping him up. I lifted a hand to punch the intruder, but I hesitated when I spotted the familiar black eyes staring up at me. "Natsu?" I gasped in a whisper, pulling my knee up from where it was pressed into his gut. "Damn it, Natsu! You scared me! What are you doing up here at this ungodly hour?"

Natsu flinched as he stood up, rubbing the sore spot in his side. "Sheesh, Lucy, you surprised me. I didn't think you were so good at hand-to-hand," he grunted, pulling his hood down.

My eye twitched; he was avoiding the question, but not very well. I crossed my arms under my chest, glaring at him. "Answer the question, Natsu," I demanded.

Natsu avoided my gaze, looking shameful. "I… I had a bad dream," he confessed, running a hand through his hair. "I saw you were asleep, though, so I was going to go back, but you woke up."

I cast a quick glance towards where Levy's bed was. The bluenette was still fast asleep, snoring gently, with the covers pulled up to her nose. I sighed, toying with the ends of my hair. "Well, I'm awake now," I relented. "Sit down, and we'll talk." I gestured towards the bed, pulling my sweatshirt from off the end of the bed and pulling it over my head. It was cold in here. Who turned down the heat? Spotting the window, I noticed that it was open, and I sighed, a bit frustrated. Of course Natsu would take the most unconventional route. I reminded myself to lock the window after Natsu left and closed it, cutting off the flow of cold air.

I sighed, turning to address the boy already making himself comfortable in my bed. Natsu had already sat down and was burying his legs in my blankets. I sighed softly once more and perched at the foot of the bed, crossing my legs and laying my arms in my lap. "Before we start, I have a question," I began. "Why did you come here? Surely you realize that I'm a horrible candidate for this? I'm not a psychologist, and I'm not the most empathetic person either."

"That's not true," Natsu argued. "You're a good person, you just don't always show it." He lifted his gaze to meet mine, his dark eyes glowing slightly in the faint light of the lamp on my nightstand. "Who else would I have gone to, though? I panicked, and you were the first person that came to mind. Plus, your room is right below mine, so it was easy to climb down."

I sighed, rubbing my face. Ideally, I would have just sent Natsu back to his room, but it was hard to turn him away when I could relate to him. I'd had nightmares ever since the day my parents died. I knew the kind of panic Natsu felt, the yearning for the company of someone who understood.

Maybe I had lied, and I really was an empathetic person.

"Alright, tell me about your nightmares," I said, shifting to make myself comfortable.

Natsu hesitated a few seconds, which was to be expected, before he began. "It's actually a recurring nightmare," he admitted. "It's back before I joined Fairy Tail, when I'm still living with Igneel." he paused, grimacing. "It's the middle of the night. When I open my eyes, the whole house is one fire. I start yelling to wake up Igneel, and I run to Sting's bedroom. He's trapped inside, and he can't hear me calling for him. Igneel breaks down the door. Sting is passed out on the floor, bleeding from where pieces of wood and glass pierced his skin, so Igneel picks him up and we all go outside. The ambulance is already there, so we quickly go to the hospital. Sting is in bad shape, so they rush him to the Emergency room. Igneel and I are pretty beat up too. When we go to see him, he's dead, and Igneel is screaming at me about how it's my fault, all my fault." he paused, taking a breath, and I could see his hands shaking as he lowered his gaze, his bangs falling to cover his eyes. I've never seen him so shaken up before. "That's always when I wake up."

I swallowed, feeling bad. Even after all these years, he blames himself for what happened to him. "Is that… how it really happened?" I asked softly. It was unnerving to see Natsu so shaken. He's always been one of the survivors, but I could see how he was struggling.

Natsu nodded. "Sting died two days after the fire. Smoke inhalation, they told us. He breathed in too much smoke." He let out a long, soft sigh, shaking his head and pushing his fingers into his hair, keeping his hand there to prop up his head. "I've been having nightmares off and on since then, but this was the first one in several months. I think that's why it freaked me out so much."

I clenched my hands in my lap, looking down with a tiny nod. "Who else knows about your nightmares?" I asked.

"My roommate, Romeo, knows," Natsu replied. "And so do Gray and Erza. But they're the only ones. I'm not the only one, though. Erza still has nightmares about when she was a kid, and so does Gray. Even Mira gets them sometimes."

I sucked in a breath, my heart clenching. No matter what I like to think, it still pained me to hear that other people suffered like I used to, and still do. Bad dreams plaguing your sleep, waking up in a cold sweat, panicked, your heart pounding. I knew exactly what it was like. I closed my eyes for a moment, thinking, and I had to stifle a yawn with my hand.

Natsu sat up, kicking his legs out from under my comforter. "Sorry for waking you up. I feel better now, so I'm going to head back up to my room."

I nodded, crawling down under the blankets. I didn't even wait to see if Natsu actually left, I was too tired to care. It was three in the morning, and all I wanted to do was rack up as many hours of uninterrupted sleep as I could before my alarm went off in five hours. It didn't take very long to fall asleep.


	7. Such An Idiot

**I finished writing chapter sixteen on Thursday and the plot is just now beginning xD This story is very slow-paced, with a lot of other stuff in between, but I promise it won't be disappointing. There's a lot of action in this chapter (if you can call it that?) so I hope you enjoy it! Drop a review and tell me what you think! I love getting feedback!**

**Silvaze4evrand1: Me too, though it's been a while since I last had one.**

**Coolanime14: Thanks, you're cool too ;D**

**maria: Thanks! I will definitely continue this c: Updates are every Saturday!**

**Shugo Fairy 4eva: lol you're lucky I kind o speak spanish (I'm in spanish 2 at school). I can't answer that question though xD I always say things, and then later I change them, if you know what I mean x3**

**xxchatonxx: je vous remercie, je mettre à jour tous les samedis.**

**CuteFoxSage-NightShadeOwl: Really? Well, I guess that's a good thing! xD Thanks, darling!**

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><p>I hummed softly as I emerged into that in-between state between waking up and being asleep. My head felt kind of fuzzy and my limbs were heavy, particularly my left arm, which felt like there was a brick wall laying on it. I flexed my fingers experimentally. They were asleep, pins and needles shooting up my arm. I must have slept on it funny. I let my eyes open partially, low sunlight filtering in through the blinds on my window, and reached up with my free arm to rub my eyes. It was like a furnace under these blankets, but it was a good kind of warm, the kind that made you groggy so that you didn't want to get up.<p>

I was suddenly painfully aware of the fact that there was someone else in my bed. I shrieked like a girl (which, technically, I was, but don't sweat the details) and immediately jumped up, leaning back on my heels.

There was a head of pink hair poking out of my blankets, and I let out a long, loud breath of relief that it wasn't some stranger. After I had gotten over my initial shock, I kicked Natsu hard in the shin. "Wake up, you perverted bastard!" I hissed.

Natsu groaned and shifted. "Lucy, it's too early. Go back to sleep," he grumbled, pulling the comforter over his head with one hand.

I glared at his forehead for a long moment. "Natsu, why are you even in my bed? While I'm still in it, no less!" I questioned.

Natsu opened one eye lazily, meeting my gaze. "It's not my fault, weirdo. Don't you remember? You grabbed my hand and dragged me down in your sleep!" he lifted his hand, indicating where my right hand was still wrapped tightly around his pointer finger. I hadn't even noticed the contact. I quickly released it, pulling my hand back like his touch had burned me. I scowled, pushing him out of my bed.

"That doesn't mean you can molest me in my sleep!" I yelled, feeling better after hearing the satisfying thump of Natsu's body hitting the floor.

Natsu yelped as he tumbled from the bed, taking my blanket to the floor with him. "Luuuucy!" he whined. "I wasn't molesting you, you weirdo! I was just cuddling a little. You were the one who started it, anyway!"

I felt my cheeks heat up against my will. Being an only child, I didn't have much experience with men, or even young boys. That fact that a seventeen-year-old man had just slept in my bed with me still in it was very unnerving, even if it was just Natsu. He probably didn't even know the implications that could be associated with sleeping in the same bed. Implications that were certainly not true. "Shut up and get out," I growled, pointing to the window. "I'd like to be able to spend my morning in peace."

Natsu pouted at me, crossing his arms. "You're such a kill-joy," he complained, shuffling to the window. He opened it up and perched on the short ledge outside before turning to me with a grin and a wave. "See you later, Luce!" he called before jumping up. I'll never figure out how he managed to not fall and die.

"Don't call me that!" I yelled after him, slamming the window shut behind him. Huffing loudly, I glanced at the clock. My alarm was set to go off in ten minutes, so I just sighed softly and turned it off, changing quickly into a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. I clipped my belt around my waist, tightening it until it fit snugly, and nodded appreciatively at my reflection in the mirror.

Levy hummed under her breath as she sat up, rubbing her eyes and stretching. "Good morning, Lu," she greeted with a yawn. "You're up early."

I rolled my eyes. "I've already told you to stop calling me that," I chastised, with less malice than I used with Natsu. I couldn't help the thought that Levy was fragile in some way, even though I knew she was just as strong as the other girls. "Natsu woke me up about ten minutes ago. Spaztic moron."

Levy giggled, pulling herself out of bed and throwing on a sweatshirt over her pajamas. "That's Natsu for you. He still hasn't figured out boundary space. He even crawled into Erza's bed once when they were kids. But of course, she's just as bad as he is."

I shook my head, rummaging through my stuff for a pair of thick boots. I was planning on working today, so I would have to be comfortable and practical. Spotting the velvet box in the corner of my eye, I turned my attention to where the gold key was laying on my nightstand. I frowned; for some reason today felt like an important day. Perhaps I would finally discover where my key went. Humming, I pulled my keyring, which contained my key to my room, out of a small pouch that was attached to my belt and added the golden key to it. I dropped the keyring back into my pouch and patted it. Then I turned to where Levy was changing into her work clothes. "Ready to go, Levy?" I called.

The little bluenette nodded with a smile. "Let's see, today is Saturday, right? That means it's time for you to start your basic self-defense training!" she said.

I frowned slightly. "Self-defense?" I echoed.

Levy nodded, picking up what looked like a bag with a shoulder strap on it. The bag was long and thin, cylindrical in shape. She draped the bag over her shoulder and across her chest so the straight part laid against her back. "Some of the teens, like Erza and Laxus, are already S-class and teach the training sessions, but the rest of us, A-class and below, have to train to keep up our strength. Laxus and Erza teach us most of the time, but Jellal steps in sometimes. He's not really the teaching type."

I nodded in understanding. "So those three are already S-class?" I confirmed. "Who else is?"

"Gildarts is the oldest, but the last is Mirajane. She's not much of a fighter anymore, though. She retired from fighting a few years ago in favor of staying close by. She runs the bar now."

"Mira is S-class?" I exclaimed in surprise. The white-haired barmaid was the exact opposite of someone who looked like a fierce fighter. If anything, she was the most gentle. "How did they become S-class?"

Levy gestured for Lucy to follow her into the hall before she began her explanation. "Every year, the guild holds a contest. They pick eight A-class members, who compete against each other along with a partner for the spot of S-class. It's an extremely difficult test that tests your physical, mental and emotional endurance. In the end only the strongest candidate can pass."

"That sounds difficult," I commented, frowning.

Levy giggled. "It is. I competed last year, but I came in last place," she admitted with a sheepish smile. "That was the year Erza won. Before her was Mirajane, then Laxus, Jellal, and Gildarts, a long time ago. The test is typically held in the summer on Fairy Tail's holy island, Tenrou. I know for sure that Natsu and Gray are already training for it, and it's still spring!"

I shook my head. "I don't think either of them would pass the mental tests. Maybe physical, but there are still better candidates. There's Freed, for one, and Evergreen. Both of them are good candidates to win."

Levy just shrugged, glancing at me with a small smile. "Cana is probably the one with the most experience. She's competed in the exam every year for three years, but she keeps falling short just a bit. She got second behind Laxus, Mira and Erza, but I think she could be a real contender this year. I say she'll win."

"Cana? Really?" I echoed with a reproachful look. While I hadn't actually seen the haughty brunette fight before, she couldn't be that strong. All she did was sit at the bar all day and get drunk. Sure, she was nice, and fun to party with, but that was different than being strong.

"I wouldn't underestimate Cana," Levy warned. "She's a lot more powerful than she looks, and her style of fighting is completely unique. Even Erza had a hard time when the two competed in the S-class exam last year."

I grunted in reply, fingering the whip on my belt. Levy led me towards the main hall, down the stairs from the second floor and outside. "Where are we going?" I asked. I wasn't yet familiar with the grounds of the school.

Levy glanced over her shoulder briefly. "The training hall is separate from the main building. It's more soundproof than the actual building, so it keeps the noise to a minimum, and it's really spacious. The typical training consists of basic training with a staff, throwing knives, swords and, of course, hand-to-hand combat. It's just a precaution for the jobs we take, because some of the B-class, A-class and S-class missions can be really dangerous. Most of us have a prefered weapon as well, so we do a lot of extra training with that. Like your whip, for example, or my bo staff." she grinned and jerked her thumb to the bag on her back. So that was what that was for.

"I see," I replied with a nod. "That makes sense, I've seen some of those requests. I don't have a rank yet, though."

"Then they'll most likely give it to you today," Levy said, approaching a large building that was placed across the street from the main Fairy Tail building. I remembered passing by it before, but I didn't know that it was part of Fairy Tail. It had no label on it, no indication of what it was. I had assumed it was some kind of storehouse or something.

Producing a key from her pocket, Levy unlocked the door of the training hall and pushed down on the handle, cracking the door open. Immediately, the noises of fighting reached my ears. Yells, grunts, and curses filtered out of the small doorway as Levy and I made our way inside. What I saw was quite the sight to take in.

All around us were fighting teenagers. I could see Cana standing on a thin mat, her eyes narrowed and her teeth gritted as she flipped a throwing knife absently in her hand. Taking a step forward, she hurled the knife, letting out a satisfied yell as the knife struck the human-shaped target in the neck. Levy was right, I shouldn't underestimate her. Erza sparred with Laki close by, both of them wielding swords that looked to be longer than they were. Evergreen was fighting with fans, an odd weapon, but as I looked closer, I can see the tiny blades that tipped each prong of the fans. They seemed to be effective, slicing the leather covering of the dummy as though a sword had cut it. The guys were also there, mixed in with the girls. Romeo, one of the youngest students, had a short sword in each hand and was sparing with Natsu, who looked to be blocking the swords with his bare hands. The pink-haired boy had a large grin on his face as he continued to dodge and block Romeo's advances, a thin sheen of sweat on his face. Gray and Loke were kickboxing, both of them with fists raised, and Loke was panting with the exertion.

"Everyone is here," I marvelled, counting the members. All twenty-one of my housemates were here, training. "I didn't realize that Cana was such a good shot," I added, seeing the way that Cana threw her knives precisely.

Levy smiled softly. "Cana's been here a long time, almost as long as I have. The two of us were good friends growing up, and we still are. Her father works here; Gildarts. He was the one who invited Macao and Romeo to come here a little while ago."

I remembered Natsu telling me about Romeo once. The black-haired boy was one of the teacher's, Macao's, son, and Natsu's roommate and apprentice. He was the youngest member here, and he was a freshman, the only one in the whole school. "It looks like Natsu is doing him good," I commented. Romeo already had a strength that defied his appearance, a good tool for those who would underestimate him.

Levy nodded agreement. "Natsu is a surprisingly great teacher," she said. "I have no doubt that once he becomes S-class he'll become one of the favorites."

I just shrugged, but I had to silently agree with her. Natsu did look like he would make a good teacher. "What now?" I asked, turning to my roommate.

"Actually, since Natsu is your partner, you'll probably be training with him in Erza's class," Levy replied. "Mornings are used for personal practice, like what everyone is doing now, noon is lunch time, and one o'clock is when the classes start. You'll be training in a class with Natsu, Gray, Romeo, Lisanna, me, Gajeel and Juvia."

I nodded and turned my gaze back to Natsu, watching him quietly as he sparred with Romeo. He was patient and helpful, yelling out commands to his apprentice and correcting his stance every once in a while. After a minute, he straightened up, relaxing his stance, and Romeo sheathed his short swords in sheaths on either side of his hips. Natsu turned his gaze to me, then, and grinned, waving. He made his way over to me, waving to Romeo, and grabbed a towel off a nearby rack, briefly wiping his forehead. "'Morning, Lucy!" he greeted cheerfully, tossing the towel into a bin by the door. "Finally ready to start training, eh?"

I nodded. "Levy said now that I'm acclimated, I should start my training," I replied. "Where do we start?"

Natsu thought for a moment resting his hand on his hip. "You should probably start with something easy to show us how much you know. How about we start with hand-to-hand?" he suggested. "I'll be your partner."

I nodded agreement. It had been a while since I actually practiced my hand-to-hand combat skills; typically I just fought with my whip. Natsu led me towards one of the empty sparring mats, taking the far side while I took the near. Grinning, he dropped into a fighting stance, feet spread, knees bent, and fisted hands held up to protect his chest and face. "You make the first move. Don't hold back!" he said.

I dropped into my own fighting stance, narrowing my eyes. Natsu was obviously quite comfortable doing this. Perhaps he preferred to fight hand-to-hand. I still hadn't seen him use a weapon before. Experimentally, I pulled one fist back and aimed for his nose. Natsu had quick reflexes, catching my fist in his hand. "You gotta be quicker than that," he advised. "If you want to win a fight, you can't use sheer force. You don't have the body type for that. Use your head and do whatever you can to get behind your opponent."

I scowled at the comment; he had basically just called me weak. I was no body-builder, but I wasn't a slouch, either! I had plenty of power! Natsu made a move this time, aiming for my cheek, but I ducked, taking a step back.

"Not bad," Natsu commented. "You never want to let your opponent get too close unless you have a plan in mind."

I took a moment to pause and examine Natsu's stance. He was definitely practiced, leaving no open space, his eyes trained on me, awaiting my next move. Where was his weak spot? Everyone had one; nobody could be perfectly guarded, it was impossible. I let my eyes flick down to his feet momentarily, and I allowed the tiniest of smiles onto my face. Natsu was waiting, looking amused, his hands still held up. With a small yell, I lunged forward, ducking a punch Natsu threw my way, and snapped out my leg, flexing my ankle so I could hook my foot behind Natsu's and trip him.

My plan was halfway successful. Natsu yelped and stumbled back a few steps, but he quickly regained his footing. It seemed he was more sturdy than I imagined. "Good!" he called, dropping back into his stance. "Pick out your opponent's weaknesses and use them to your advantage! I won't fall for the same trick twice, though!" he had a large grin on his face, bouncing slightly on his toes. Where does one man obtain so much unbridled energy? It was like he was some kind of superhuman.

I huffed and planted my feet firmly on the ground. "Come at me," I said. "I want to test out my defense."

Natsu nodded and stepped forward, throwing a punch towards my face. I lifted one hand so that his fist hit the front of my wrist with a dull thump. He obviously wasn't using his full power, but that was fine. This was just a sparring match, after all.

"Not bad for a newbie," Natsu commented, throwing another punch, this one aimed towards my shoulder. I quickly leaned away from the punch, but in that moment Natsu brought his leg around and caught my feet, pulling them out from under me. In a moment of panic, I cried out, landing hard on my back.

Natsu put his hands on his hips, leaning down to look at me in amusement. "Come on, get back up," he coaxed, holding out his hand to help me up.

I scowled. "I don't need your help," I insisted, pushing away his hand and pulling myself to my feet. "I'm no weakling. I can take care of myself."

Natsu frowned at my comment, straightening up. "No one here is going to think you're weak for accepting a little help. We support each other here, and you're no exception. That's what it means to be in Fairy Tail."

I was silent for a moment. I had no words to counter what he had said. "Whatever, let's just keep going," I grumbled, but at that moment the bell rang to signal that our free training time was over.

"Sorry Luce, but it's lunch time, and I'm starving!" Natsu replied with a laugh, heading towards the door, where the others were filtering out of the building and heading back towards the main hall. "Come on, weirdo!"

I clenched my teeth, picking up my shoe and chucking it at the laughing pinkette. "Stop calling me that! And I'm not the weirdo! You are!" I yelled, yanking my ponytail holder out of my hair and ruffling my blonde tresses with one hand.

Natsu caught the shoe easily and let it drop to the ground, laughing. "Whatever, Lucy. See you at lunch!" he replied, jogging out of the building.

I huffed loudly, alone in the training hall and blew a strand of hair from my face while putting on one of my sandals. I snatched the other, the one I had thrown at Natsu, up off the ground and slid it on next to its identical twin, crossing my arms. Natsu was such an idiot.


	8. A Foreign Feeling

**The S-class exams are beginning! The next few chapters will revolve mostly around the S-class exams, supporting a theory I have that if Mest hadn't shown up, Lucy would have been elected for the exams. Personally I really like this chapter. There's not a lot of action, but there's lots of friendship feels xD**

**For those of you who are waiting on my Gruvia fic, 25 Things I Love About You, I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long! In all honestly, this fic is the only one I can seem to find inspiration on. I'll update it as quickly as I can! Thank you all for your wonderful reviews!**

**Silvaze4evrand1: haha, neither would I! Natsu is such a lovable character.**

**xxchatonxx: Merci! c;**

**CuteFoxSage-NightShadeOwl: Who knows? xD Lucy is a tough cookie to crack. I guess you'll just have to wait and find out.**

**maria: Thank you! I will definitely be continuing this!**

**Glitter Spires: Thanks! That's correct. The whol concept is that they live in a dorm building type place where they live and go to school, and they receive self-defense training in order to be able to do odd jobs and earn money, much like in the Fairy Tail universe, just without magic and with more training involved. It takes place in a male-dominant society where women are not seen as equals (unless you're in Fairy Tail, cause friendship xD)**

**artistofthemind: Thank you very much! I'm glad you're enjoying it! The key will come up later, but until then, no spoilers from me c; I'll definitely have some Lucy/whip action later, when the plot starts to pick up.**

**CeeCeeTheAlaskanDragonSlayer: D: Don't be sorry! I totally understand what you're saying! Thanks so much for reviewing though, your review made me super happy x3 I'm glad that you think I write Natsu so well! He's one of my favorite characters to write because of his quirky, childish side and also his serious and protective side. So cute! I also like writing tortured characters, so Lucy is fun xD**

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><p>I ate lunch with the other teens, just like I did every day. Everyone at Fairy Tail sat together when they ate. Erza told me it was some kind of "communal bonding" kind of thing, but for me, it's just crap. Like the time she wanted me to bathe, naked with the guys so that I would be more comfortable around them. I don't know where she gets these ideas from.<p>

I sighed softly as I picked up my lunch from the bar and headed towards the round table set up for lunches. As usual, I was the last one there, and as usual, Natsu had saved me a seat next to him. He insists on doing everything together, and it's starting to get on my nerves a little bit. I have no time to myself, because he's always dragging me around. But I sat next to him anyway, rather than try to explain why I hadn't shown up, and leaned my head on my hand, digging into my lunch.

"Hi, Lucy! How was training?" Levy asked from across the table. She was flanked on both sides by Jet and Droy, her teammates, and hovering behind her was Gajeel. I don't know why he doesn't just sit. There was an open seat between Erza and Jellal. Then again, I wouldn't want to be in the center of their awkward small talk either. I wonder when Jellal will confess his feelings for Erza?

I shook my head. There goes my mind again. I've been reading too many romance novels. I silently cursed Levy as I swallowed the mouthful of peas in my mouth. "It was fine," I replied. "I'll probably be sore tomorrow though." I shot a pointed look at Natsu, who smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry, Luce. I guess I forgot that you're still not ranked. Although I think I know what rank you'll be now that I've tested out your skill." I didn't even have time to yell at him for his stupid nickname.

Mirajane leaned forward on the table, smiling. "Oh? And what does Natsu think?" she asked. "You tend to be spot-on with these kinds of things."

Natsu flashed the pretty barmaid a grin. "A-class, definitely," he replied, crossing his arms with a confident tilt of his head. "There's no doubt. She's not just smart, but she's got some natural talent too. We just need to hone that skill a little and she'll be S-class material."

I couldn't help but feel flattered by Natsu's praise. He really thought I could be S-class material? I had better step up my game. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?" I muttered half-heartedly. "And I'm nowhere near S-class. Maybe A-class if I'm lucky, but not S-class."

Natsu pouted at me. "Don't underestimate yourself. I can see your potential. When I become S-class, I'm going to put you in my class, for sure!" he grinned and punched the air like a child.

I sighed and shook my head. "Whatever, Natsu," I replied, returning to my lunch.

"At least pretend to be excited," Natsu scoffed. "Gramps is releasing the contenders for S-class today, and I'm totally gonna win!"

"Who do you think will be competing this year?" Romeo asked.

"I'd say Freed has a pretty good chance of winning this year," Mirajane commented, leaning her chin on her hands. "Evergreen, too, or even Elfman, though he may still need a little while before he's ready." she laughed quietly at this.

Elfman flashed his older sister an offended look, but he didn't get to say anything before Erza spoke up. "Gray and Natsu are sure to be on the roster this year, and maybe Juvia as well, or Gajeel. Personally, I think Cana's going to win this year."

Cana looked up from her beer at the sound of her name. Her cheeks were tinted pink and everyone could see she was drunk. "I'm gonna send all o' you guys ta hell!" she exclaimed, glaring as she slammed her palm on the table.

Erza frowned, sipping her tea. "You ought to have more confidence in yourself, Cana," she reprimanded. "I really do think you're going to win this year. No one else has ever come close to you. Just because of Gil-"

"Would ya shut yer yap, ya devil?!" Cana interrupted, narrowing her eyes.

Before either of the women could say anything more, Makarov cleared his throat loudly, calling the teens' attention to where he was standing at the head of the table, behind Gray and Juvia. "Quiet down, brats!" he yelled. "As I'm sure you all know already, today is the day in which I decide the candidates for this years S-class promotional exam. So if you all would kindly _shut up_, I can get on with it!" Like magic, the remaining whispers and conversation died down, replaced by complete silence as the members of Fairy Tail awaited the list of names.

Makarov cleared his throat, producing a slip of paper from his pocket. "This year's S-class candidates are: Cana Alberona!"

No surprise there. Cana scoffed and glared as the others cheered her name. I didn't blame her. She had lost three years in a row already.

"Natsu Dragneel!"

So he really did get nominated. Natsu cheered and jumped up in his chair, punching the air with his fist. I cheered half-heartedly along with the rest of my housemates.

"Gray Fullbuster!"

Another no-brainer. If Natsu got in, Gray was sure to follow. The two of them were fairly evenly matched, after all.

"Juvia Lockser!"

That caught me by surprise. The odd blue-haired woman had never struck me as very powerful, but Makarov probably knew better than me the members of his orphanage. If it could be called that.

"Elfman Strauss!"

Another surprise. Sure, Elfman was powerful, but he was none too bright, and I was pretty sure the others could still beat him pretty easily despite his large size. Remind me again how he's Mira and Lisanna's brother?

"Freed Justine!"

Probably the most obvious candidate. I don't know how he didn't become S-class before.

"Levy McGarden!"

Even though Levy looked surprised, I wasn't. It was no surprise that if Levy made it last year, she would again this year. I cheered for her a little along with the others.

"And lastly… Lucy!"

For a long, long moment, I didn't comprehend that Makarov had said my name and not someone else's. My eyes widened and I dropped the cup I was holding, its contents splashing on the floor. Natsu cheered loudly and clapped me on the back, congratulating me on my nomination. Was this really happening?

And then everyone was cheering me name, and I was a candidate for S-class.

_What the hell?! _Well, at least he had left out my last name. Thank God that Makarov knew how to take a hint.

"I don't… understand…"

Makarov laughed heartily and smiled up at me. "My dear, you've shown plenty of attributes that suggest you would make an excellent S-class member," he explained. "You're smart and I've seen that you have some impressive latent ability, even without real, proper training. I'm looking forward to your performance on Tenrou this year. Of course, this means I'll have to promote you to A-class, but I never had a doubt that that would be your rank." he cleared his throat then, gaining the others' attention once more. "Now then! All of you participating in the exam this year must find a partner by the end of the month! They must be a member of Fairy Tail, but you cannot partner up with another candidate or an S-class member! Good luck, brats!"

Well this… was unexpected. Who would I choose to be my partner, anyway? Levy was competing, so that was out of the question. So were Gray and Natsu, and Erza was S-class, so I couldn't ask her. Maybe Lisanna?

It hadn't even been two minutes, and already Natsu had partnered up with Romeo, and Gray had picked Loke. I sighed and cradled my head in my hands. This was going to be a lot of work, I could already tell.

Levy looked nervous, really nervous. I couldn't figure out why, though. "Um, Master?" she called, drawing the little old man's attention. "I, uh, I don't want to participate in the exams this year."

There were collective gasps from the others as Levy said this, and the small bluenette shrunk a bit. "I don't think I'm ready for this. So if you don't mind, I'd rather not participate this year."

Makarov frowned, glancing up at Levy. "Are you sure, child? This is a very important thing here. You might have a chance of winning."

Levy smiled, ruffling her wild blue hair. "To be honest, I don't think I want the responsibility of being S-class, at least not yet," she explained. "But maybe next year if I get stronger."

Makarov sighed. "Very well. If that is your wish, I'll humor you. The remaining seven contestants, find a partner by the end of the month, and start preparing!"

"Who's gonna take the shrimp's place?" Gajeel called. "There has to be eight of us, right?"

Makarov shook his head. "I have no other candidates. There will be only seven this year," he replied. Gajeel scowled and punched the table; it looked as though he had been hoping to take Levy's spot.

"This doesn't help me in my partner crisis," I muttered under my breath. I was still going to participate, definitely, but if I didn't have a partner did I stand a chance at all? I still had plenty of time, though. It wasn't worth worrying about.

Erza stood up, clearing her throat. "Now that that's over, it's one o'clock. Everyone back to the training hall! It's time for classes!" she announced, heading for the door with Laxus right behind her.

Excited chatter rose up from the group of teens as they made their way out the door and into the training hall. Everyone was discussing who they thought would win this year's S-class exam, or talking about who would be partners with who. I was essentially left behind when it came to this. I was the newbie, and I was bad at making friends. I didn't really have anyone to partner with. Levy had made it quite clear that she didn't want to participate in the exam this year, so that left… no one.

Natsu jogged up to my side, grinning at me. "Congrats on the nomination!" he cheered. "It's not often that someone as new as you goes right into the exams."

I just shrugged wordlessly, focusing on the path in front of me. In reality, I was only half listening to Natsu. The other half of me was trying to rationalize why exactly Makarov was trusting me with something like this. S-class seemed to be a very admirable and important position, given to trusted members of the school to take on the harder jobs around the town. It wasn't something they gave to the newbies.

Once we were inside the training hall, the group automatically split into two groups, one following Laxus into another room, the other staying with Erza in the main room. Erza herself stood at the front of the room, watching as her class gathered. "Let's get down to business. First we'll get warmed up with some stretches, then we'll do some partner sparring, and then we'll review the basics of fighting with a staff."

I stood between Natsu and Levy on the padded floor, bending over to lay my palms flat on the floor, stretching out my legs. Natsu didn't seem to be as flexible as Levy and I were, but he managed, his fingertips brushing the floor in front of him.

Needless to say, Erza's class was brutal, and I wasn't exactly completely in shape. In the end I ended up sparring with Levy, who essentially kicked my ass (I'll never underestimate her again) and I went home with a nearly-sprained ankle and a very large headache.

"Sorry if I was too hard on you, Lucy." Levy apologized profusely from the training hall all the way up to our bedroom, to which I refused to say a word, so I pretty much ignored her the entire time. I didn't really blame her though. I hadn't expected her to be such a badass.

"It's fine," I sighed as I sat down on my bed, nursing the bump on my head that was the source of my pounding headache. "I haven't had a decent fight in a long time, I think I'm going soft."

This seemed to reassure Levy a bit. "I can promise you that by the time Erza's finished with you, you'll be able to match any of us in strength."

I nodded and lowered myself so I was laying on my bed, grunting at my muscles screamed in protest. I was sore in places I didn't even know could be sore. "If this is hard for me, I don't know what I'm going to do during the S-class exam," I groaned, rubbing my face with my hands.

Levy tugged the bottom of her shirt from where it was tucked into her pants, tugging the shirt over her head. "That reminds me, have you found a partner for the exam yet?" she asked.

I shook my head. "All of the people I would want to be partners with are taken," I grumbled. "Natsu and Gray are candidates, Lisanna is paired up with Juvia, and you're not participating. I don't know who else there is."

Levy pressed her lips together, pulling on a pair of orange yoga pants. "That's a problem," she sighed, sitting down on the edge of her bed. "But if you don't find anyone, I'll be your partner. I don't mind being part of the exam as long as I'm not the one competing."

I blinked in surprise, turning my attention to the small bluenette. "You sure?" I asked. "I mean, I'm sure I can find someone else…" That was a lie. I wouldn't want to be partners with anyone else.

Levy smiled and nodded. "It would be fun! We don't really go on jobs together, so I think it would be fun being your partner."

Before I could stop it, a small smile broke out on my face. These people must be making me soft, because this was the second time I had smiled, which was more than the last six years of my life combined. Geez, when did I become so depressing? Had I always been such a downer? Natsu did complain about me being a kill-joy a lot, but I hadn't ever taken it to heart until now. Maybe I ought to smile more often. It felt… good. "Thanks, Levy. You're a good… friend."

It actually felt like a foreign language, to say the word 'friend'. That just goes to show how isolated m childhood was. My only friends were my servants, but they were employees, people hired to cater to my every need and wish, not friends like these. I did nothing for them, yet they still saw me as a part of their family, for some reason.

It was a foreign feeling, but one that I wanted to feel again.


	9. Maybe If You're Lucky

**I like this chapter, but nothing really happens in it xD There will be a few moor chapters before the actual Tenrou Island games happen, and that's when the actual plot comes in! I might have taken pacing a little too far xD Well, I hope you all don't get bored! The chapter after this is one of my favorites so far.**

**Silvaze4evrand1: Lol, I read this review for the first time right after seeing Mockingjay, so the "may the odds be ever in your favor" part made me laugh pretty hard.**

**CeeCeeTheAlaskanDragonSlayer: In all honesty, there's not really a reason why Levy dropped out other than she didn't really think she could win it. I always imagined Levy as a good character who underestimates herself. In reality she's as strong or stronger than some of the other girls in Fairy Tail. Lucy, on the other hand, overestimates herself sometimes, and that's why her housemates's strength always surprises her. She's a great character who has a lot to learn x3 Mira is creepily accurate, that is a true statement. Thanks so much for your wonderful review, you rock! /noms cupcake/ :3**

**artistofthemind: Thank you!**

**xxchatonxx: Merci! Je suis heureux que vous l'apprécierez!**

**CuteFoxSage-NightShadeOwl: Thanks, darling x3**

**Glitter Spires: Bit by bit, Lucy is learning what it's like to be in Fairy Tail. Hopefully she'll open up soon :D (Of course, I know what happens cause I'm the author xD)**

**maria: Thank you! I will continue ^^**

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><p>The next few weeks went by in a blur. It had been three weeks since my entrance into Fairy Tail, but already it felt like longer. It was like my life before Fairy Tail had evaporated. Every day, I felt myself reverting back into the person I had been six years ago, before my parents' death had traumatized me. I had become closer friends with Levy and Lisanna, and I found myself yelling at Natsu less often. I still yelled at him, though, at least twice a day. But he was an idiot, and he deserved it.<p>

Said pinkette was currently perched on my windowsill, tapping on the glass and glaring at me through it. I was attempting to read a book Levy had lent me, but I was finding Natsu's incessant tapping increasingly annoying as his eyes bore holes into my left temple. Eventually, I had had enough, so I dog-eared the page of the book and put it down gently before storming towards the window, giving Natsu my best death glare.

"What do you want?" I demanded, unlocking and throwing the window open.

"Geez, Luce, it took you long enough!" Natsu exclaimed, lowering his right foot onto my carpet. I put out my hand and pushed him back, though, glaring.

"Oh, no you don't! I'm enjoying my free time, so you go back to where you came from!" I growled. "I was in the middle of a really good book when you interrupted me, and now I have to get back into it!"

Natsu gave me a funny look. "But Luuucy!" He whined. "I came all the way down here to see you! Climbing the wall is harder than it looks!"

I scowled at the comment. "Then use the freaking door!" I yelled, pointing to the half-open door to Levy and my dorm room. "It's the middle of the freaking day! It's not like it's illegal!" I crossed my arms stubbornly. "And you have to knock first, not barge in like you did yesterday. Can't I get just a minute of privacy without you creeping on me through the window?"

"It's not creeping!" Natsu argued. "It's just easier to come down the wall. Usually you leave the window unlocked, though."

"I locked the window to keep creeps like you away," I answered with a disapproving frown. "And if you're watching me through the window without my permission, then it's creeping, and I don't like it. And didn't you just say climbing the wall was hard?"

Natsu waved his hand dismissively. "That's beside the point," he brushed off, reaching into the pocket of his black and yellow vest to pull out a sheet of paper. "I found us a job! It looks really easy, and the reward is one hundred thousand jewel! It'll be your first A-class job! Plus, we could use some extra training before the S-class exam on Monday."

I had completely forgotten about the S-class exam. "Shoot, you're right. If there's any kind of fighting, I'll be out for sure, and I'm really starting to get excited!" I exclaimed, grabbing my belt and stringing it through the belt loops on my mid-thigh jean shorts.

Natsu laughed, perching on the edge of my bed and waiting for me to get ready. "The exams are different every time, I hear, but the former contestants aren't allowed to talk about what happens during the actual tests."

I slipped on a sweater over my white tank top and glanced at Natsu. "Have you been in the exams before?" I asked.

Natsu shook his head. "I wanted to, but Gramps wouldn't let me because he claimed I 'wasn't mature enough'," he replied, making air quotes with his hands and rolling his eyes. "But it doesn't matter. I'm gonna win, no doubt!" he grinned broadly, jumping up and pulling the flier for the job out of his pocket once more. "The job is to find and apprehend a group of bandits. Well, more like petty thieves. Some of the local store owners have been complaining about money being stolen from their shops. Only small amounts, but enough to make a difference. According to eyewitnesses, it's a small group, only a handful of people, but they're sneaky and know how to blend in."

I sighed. "Sounds troublesome," I muttered. It wasn't that I thought it would be hard, but I didn't want to chase a bunch of bandits around town. "How did this ever become an A-class mision?"

Natsu shrugged. "Who cares?" he replied. "It's good pay, and it'll be a good introduction into how we do A-class jobs. They're a little different from the B-class ones we've done before, harder and more involved. Ready to go?"

I smirked at Natsu, rolling my neck a bit to work out the kinks in it. "Ready when you are," I responded, heading for the door and towards the stairs, heading down into the main hall. It was bustling with people, as usual, and it almost seemed peaceful with the absence of the usual brawl that accompanied it.

"Mira, we're heading out!" Natsu called to the white-haired barmaid, who was busy with her customers.

Mirajane looked up briefly to smile and wave to us. "Alright! Be safe, and good luck!"

Natsu flashed Mirajane a quick grin before turning and heading outside. I followed him out, pausing. "So, where is this job at anyway?" I snatched the paper from Natsu's hands, eyes glancing over the location. "Shion? That's the town a few cities down. Guess we'll have to take the train."

Natsu's face practically turned green at the mention of trains. "Oh, God, no," he moaned. "There is no way I'm getting on that death machine. We're walking."

I clenched my teeth together, crumpling up the flier and throwing it at Natsu's head. "You expect us to walk for who knows how long to get to Shion when we could just get on a train and be there in half an hour? Absolutely not! We're taking the train and that's final! I don't care about your stupid motion sickness!" Last week, when we had taken a B-class job to a city far away from Magnolia, Natsu had made us all walk to avoid the trains. "There is absolutely no way I'm walking!"

"But Luuuuucy!" Natsu whined, but I wouldn't have it.

"I'm going to go buy us some tickets, and I swear to God, if you leave this spot I'll throttle you. Understood?" I snapped, glaring at Natsu.

Natsu still looked sulky, but he sat down, right there on the ground, in the middle of the crowd, and folded his arms, looking like a child having a temper tantrum. I sighed; babysitting Natsu was not my ideal chore, but I had to admit that he was a good partner when it came to getting things done. I sighed softly, relieved that he was finally agreeing with me, and made my way through the crowd to the ticket counter. After paying for two tickets, I returned to the spot where I had left Natsu, pleased to see that he had obeyed my order and stayed put.

"The train leaves in fifteen minutes, so get up. I want to get a good spot before everyone else gets on," I said.

Natsu sighed in defeat, pushing himself to his feet. "You know, Lucy, you're pretty scary when you want something," he commented. "Kinda like Erza, but with more talking and less beating." he made a face at the thought of the red-haired knight, then shrugged. "Alright, let's get this over with. Which train are we riding?"

I led Natsu to where the train was parked and the two of us climbed on. Natsu already looked sick, even though we hadn't even left yet. Taking a spot near the center of the train, he groaned, "I wish Porlyusica were here. She makes motion sickness remedies that work like magic." Porlyusica was the on-call doctor for Fairy Tail, and quite the interesting person. She was a doctor, and yet she always rambled on about how much she hated humans, almost as though she wasn't one herself. As if on cue, the train lurched forward, and Natsu immediately keeled over, his forehead pressing against his knees. "I'm gonna hurl," he moaned.

"If you throw up on my shoes, I'll kill you!" I yelled, tucking my feet to one side and out of range. "Suck it up, Natsu. It's only half an hour. It'll be over before you know it."

Natsu just groaned again and let his head and torso flop to the side so that his head was essentially resting in my lap. I jumped at the sudden intrusion of my personal space, pulling my hands back to my shoulders. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" I exclaimed angrily, ready to shove Natsu out of his seat.

Natsu sighed contentedly. "It feels better this way," he mumbled. His head was laying across the space above my knees, and his shoulder pressed into the top of my thigh insistently.

I growled threateningly, but in reality, I didn't really want to move him. He did look less sick now that he was laying down, even if the gesture was making me uncomfortable. Sighing loudly, I forced myself to relax a little, letting my hands drop into my lap. "Fine, but only this time!" I relented, letting my back relax against the back of the train seat.

Natsu mumbled something incoherent in reply, shifting slightly. His hair tickled the side of my hand as he did, nuzzling against my legs like a dog. I scowled at the gesture. If I didn't know better, I would find the prospect of a full-grown seventeen-year-old young man with his head in my lap a compromising situation.

Sighing softly, I gave into what I could now see was an unavoidable situation. This was better than having to listen to Natsu complain about how sick he was the whole time. He had actually fallen asleep with his head in my lap, letting out gentle snores every once in a while.

The train ride was pretty pleasant after that. Natsu slept the whole time, although I had to move him twenty minutes into the ride, because the weight of his torso on my legs had caused them to fall asleep. Twelve minutes after that, the train slowed to a stop at our destination; Shion, a quaint little town famous for it's trees. The trees here had been planted by the people, and bloomed with beautiful white flowers in the springtime. It was summer, so the trees had already shed their flowers, but remnants of the recent bloom littered the ground in the form of half-dead white petals, sprinkled about like snow, stirred and moved by the breeze that shifted through the streets. It was a truly beautiful sight to see out the window of the train.

Turning to face Natsu, I saw that he was still asleep. "Wake up," I ordered, prodding him hard in the side in hopes of waking him, but Natsu was a deeper sleeper than I anticipated, because he didn't even twitch at the assault on his person.

Scowling, I lifted my leg up and shoved him out of his seat with it so he crashed onto the ground. "Wake up!" I yelled forcefully. I was not about to miss the stop. Natsu groaned in protest, rolling onto his back with his limbs sprawled out so that he looked vaguely reminiscent of a starfish. "We're here, stupid! So stand up before the train starts moving again!"

This seemed to snap Natsu out of his post-nap reverie, because his eyes suddenly opened wide and he leaped to his feet. "Shit! I don't wanna ride this deathtrap any longer than I have to!" he exclaimed, hurrying to the front of the train. I rolled my eyes with a scowl and followed after him, shoving my hands in the pockets of my jeans. I stepped off the train, sighing and stretching my stiff arms over my head. "Your stupid head made my legs fall asleep," I complained, stomping my foot on the ground in an attempt to regain blood flow to my extremities.

Natsu glanced behind him and smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry. Anyway, we better get going. We don't actually have any leads, so our first step should be to investigate, maybe ask some questions to the townspeople and see what we can find out," he suggested, tugging on the ends of his scarf restlessly. It seemed like he always had it with him. It was old, no doubt, the scale-like pattern on it beginning to fade, but I could tell it was well taken care of. I'd noticed before that Natsu always wore the strange article of clothing, but I'd never bothered to ask him about it before. Maybe someday I would, but for now it didn't seem very important.

"Maybe we could talk to some of the shopkeepers?" I suggested, glancing around as I walked down the center street of Shion. It was flanked on both sides by booths and small buildings that held the local shops. "One of them is bound to know something about the bandits. It's not like they're invisible." Surely someone had set up some kind of security to find the robbers? A stakeout, perhaps? There had to be something we could start with!

"Sounds like a plan," Natsu replied with a grin. "It might take a while, though. Are you sure you're up to it?"

I smirked, cracking my knuckles in affirmation. "Don't underestimate me, Natsu Dragneel. I'm as tough as anyone in Fairy Tail," I advised.

"You still haven't seen me at my best," Natsu pointed out. "When you've seen my Dragon Force, then you'll know just how outmatched you are."

I ignored Natsu's indirect taunt in favor of curiosity. "Dragon Force? I'm intrigued," I said, "Explain this to me."

Natsu frowned. "Well, Dragon Force is this thing that some of us in Fairy Tail can do. It's something you have to learn and practice from a really young age. Only some have the ability. There are three of us in Fairy Tail who can use Dragon Force, but only two of us have done it successfully, and only Laxus can do it on command. It can happen, rarely, when we get really angry. I've only done it once, but I can't remember anything about it. Gray said it was pretty terrifying, though. His words." he paused, scowling. "I've been training for it ever since I joined Fairy Tail more than ten years ago, but getting into it is harder than you might think. It takes a lot of concentration and strength, and controlling it completely is really difficult. Laxus has only recently mastered Dragon Force, after twenty-six years of training."

"Who are the others?" I asked, letting my curiosity drive me. "The ones who can use Dragon Force, I mean?"

"Gajeel and I have been training for it for a little over eleven years, but he still hasn't been able to enter Dragon Force yet."

I really ought to stop underestimating these people. "I never would have guessed," I said. "That's pretty cool."

Natsu shrugged. "I guess so. I don't actually know what happens when you go into Dragon Force. Laxus has never used it in front of me before. He only uses it as a last resort."

I nodded in understanding. "It must be pretty useful," I commented aloud, mostly to myself. Natsu just shrugged in reply, so I decided to change the subject. "Have you found a partner for the S-class exams?"

Natsu nodded. "I'm taking Romeo along. I figured he could use the experience and practice. It'll be interesting to see how he responds to the tests," he explained. "What about you? Find a partner yet?"

I frowned. "Well, not officially, but Levy told me she would be my partner if I couldn't fine one," I replied. "All my usual partners are competing this year, so I'm kind of pushed into a corner, if you know what I mean. I guess I got lucky that Levy didn't want to compete this year."

Natsu chuckled. "I think Levy will be a good partner for you," he said. "I heard about how she did on the exam last year. She got in last place, sure, but she's stronger now than she was last year. Plus, she's crazy smart. I think you'll do well. Maybe if you're lucky, you'll make second place!" he grinned.

"Whatever you say," I sighed. I didn't feel like arguing with Natsu right now.


	10. I Want To Join

**Ten chapters! Woot! This story is going to be longer than I imagined! I've written twenty chapters so far and there's still much that's going to happen! I hope you all are enjoying yourselves c; I've been so surprised by the number of reviewers this story has! I think it has the potential to become my most popular fic yet! Of course that can only be done thanks to you wonderful readers and especially you reviewers! You all are amazing, I love you guys!**

**Silvaze4evrand1: Definitely not the last we'll hear of Dragon Force c; But that will all come later.**

**xxchatnxx: Merci! ^^**

**CuteFoxSage-NightShadeOwl: Thanks, darling! c: I definitely plan on implementing it later on.**

**thecagedsong: Thank you! Yes I made Lucy the newbie instead of Gajeel or Juvia for reasons that will happen later on. It has to do with her parents. Plus Lucy is just a fun character to write, and I'm not good at writing Gajeel or Juvia xD**

**lavawings: Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it!**

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><p>"Natsu, do you even know where you're going?"<p>

I trudged behind Natsu with a slightly annoyed look on my face. We were supposed to be interrogating the shopkeepers, but Natsu walked right past them all without a second glance. "We're on a job, remember? Not sightseeing."

"I know," Natsu insisted. "I have somewhere specific in mind; an old friend of Fairy Tail who recently reported a robbery. I thought he may be able to offer us some leads." he paused, glancing around. "It's not too far, I'm sure… over there!" he lifted his hand and pointed to the end of the street, where a small building stood, a little cafe with a hanging sign. "Lamia Scale," I read off. "Interesting name."

"Lamia Scale is actually a school like Fairy Tail, a home for orphans," Natsu explained. "Gray's older brother lives there, and he works at this cafe."

I blinked in surprise. "Gray has a brother?" Gray had never mentioned an older brother before.

Natsu frowned a bit. "Well, technically they're not blood related," he added. "They grew up together. I like to call them brothers because it annoys the crap out of Gray." he grinned mischievously at his own comment as we approached the door. Natsu knocked three times on the door and took a step back to wait.

A moment later, a young woman with curly pink hair answered the door, a disapproving frown on her face. "Can I help you?" she asked blandly.

Natsu grinned good-naturedly. "Hey, Sherry!" he greeted. It seemed the two were familiar, though I could see from the look of distaste on Sherry's face that she did not return the affection. "We're here to see Lyon."

Sherry leaned against the door with a glower. I immediately disliked her. "Lyon is working," she stated.

Natsu sighed and finished the job flier from his pocket. "We're here on official guild business, not to catch up," he began, his voice losing its friendly tone so that it was no strictly professional. He tended to do that on jobs. It was strange. "I need to talk to Lyon. Can't you cover for him for a little while? You don't seem to be doing anything."

Sherry scowled, narrowing her eyes at Natsu, then turned on her heels to face the kitchen behind her. "Lyon! You have visitors!" she called. "Natsu and a weird girl!"

My eye twitched angrily at the comment. If anything, I was the normal one, and she was the weirdo! This girl was rubbing me all the wrong ways, and it was starting to get on my nerves.

Sherry disappeared into the kitchen in search of Lyon, motioning for Natsu and me to come in. Natsu closed the door behind him, leaning against it as he waited. Not long after that, a man turned the corner, heading towards us. I looked him up and down as he approached. He was slightly taller than Natsu, maybe even taller than Gray, with near-white hair that had been slicked back so that it stuck out the back. He had narrow, light blue eyes, and a neutral expression on his face as he stared down at us. He met Natsu's eyes for a moment before he turned to me. "I've never seen this one before. Is she new?" he asked, his tone friendly, although his expression didn't change.

Natsu smiled in a friendly manner. "Yeah, she's the newbie. Just joined a few weeks ago. She's my partner now," he replied, coming up to stand beside me.

"My name is Lucy," I put in, meeting Lyon's blank face with a stone-hard one of my own. This guy was nothing like Gray. Then again, Natsu had said they weren't actually related. I shouldn't jump to conclusions just yet. "We're here because we want to talk to you about the robberies that have been happening here in Shion for the last few weeks."

Lyon raised his eyebrows at Natsu, the first sliver of expression I'd seen him give since I first laid eyes on him. "I don't think there's any need for you two to get involved. Lamia Scale is already on the case," he answered.

Natsu frowned. "Lyon, you know how this works. One of the people here in Shion filed a job to investigate the robberies, and I took it. I can't just stop. I have a responsibility to Fairy Tail now. You don't have to answer my questions, but I'm going to finish this job," he stated firmly.

Lyon stared at Natsu for a little while, and then he grinned, faintly, a tiny tug at the corners of his mouth. "I see. Well then there's nothing I can do. I'll tell you one thing before you go. A lot of people around here think that the robbers have some kind of base, a meeting place, somewhere they go in order to keep out of sight. If you can find that place, you may be able to find out who's behind all these robberies," he suggested. "That's all I'm willing to say, though."

Natsu grinned. "That's all we need to know. Thanks, Lyon. I'll let you get back to work now," he said, and turned to glance at me I met his gaze, and he smiled and nodded, turning to the door to let himself out. "See you later!" he called, and closed the door, letting out a sigh. "Well, we have our lead."

"What now?" I asked. "We know that there's a base, but we still don't know where it is." Did he expect someone to just tell us where it was?

Natsu winked at me, I gesture I had learned to recognize at his 'Don't worry, I have a plan,' look. That usually spelt trouble for me. "What do I have to do this time?"

asdf

"Natsu, be quiet," I hissed, grabbing Natsu's arm and tugging him towards me. "And would you please sit still? A stakeout isn't going to work if you give us away!"

Natsu flashed me an apologetic glance, crouching down beside me and staring out into the darkening streets of Shion. "Man, this is boring," he muttered.

"Ssshhh," I reprimanded, jabbing him in the side with my elbow. "Don't go complaining! You were the one who suggested we stake out this stupid warehouse! Why this place, anyway?"

Natsu frowned. "Just trust me. I have a sixth sense for this kind of stuff," he advised. "I saw someone go in there a few minutes ago. it's obviously not abandoned."

I frowned, eyes trained on the warehouse door. "That could have just been some stupid teenager trying to explore or something," she reasoned. "We have no solid proof that the bandits are really in there. Besides, that guy looked young. I don't think they were an adult."

"I still think we should investigate," Natsu insisted, pushing himself to his feet. "If you're right, we can just leave, but I want to know what's going on in there."

I hesitated, pressing my lips together. "Alright, fine," I relented finally. "But I swear, if you punch an innocent teenager…!"

"I'm not gonna punch anyone unless I know they're one of the bandits!" Natsu insisted. "Come on, let's go explore!"

I reluctantly pushed myself to my feet, following Natsu as he approached the warehouse doors. He paused only a moment before tugging on the large handle of the right-hand door, which was, surprising, unlocked, and opened with a dull creaking noise. Natsy poked his head in and glanced around, then waved for me to follow him inside. I obliged, propping the warehouse door open with a rock in order to shed a bit of light into the dark room. Natsu also pulled out a flashlight, letting the light flick back and forth, surveying the surrounding area in search of danger.

"I don't see anyone," I murmured. Perhaps no one was even here. Perhaps we'd discovered a dead end.

Natsu frowned, tucking the flashlight under his arm and cupping his mouth with his hands. "Hey! Anybody in here?!" he yelled, his voice echoing in the large space.

I jumped at his sudden cry, then hastily turned around and kicked him in the shin. "Dammit, Natsu! Just yell and alert all the potentially dangerous criminals that we're here to arrest them!" I hissed in annoyance.

Natsu winced. "Ow. You kick hard," he complained, bending down to rub his sore shin. He ought to be used to it by now. "Anyway, it wasn't pointless. Shut up and listen."

I frowned disapprovingly at Natsu's commanding tone, but I listened, falling silent and straining my ears to hear what it was Natsu was talking about. As I did, I became aware of the echoing sound of footsteps in the distance. Listening carefully, I determined that there were at least three people here other than me and Natsu.

Natsu gestured for me to follow him as he made his way down, through the stacks of empty cardboard boxes and towards the sound of frantic footsteps. "Come out of there! We can hear you, so just give yourselves up and we'll go easy on you!" he called, shining his flashlight down the hall where the steps were coming from.

I saw a brief flash of something dark in the path of the light before it vanished. Acting on instinct, I gave chase, ignoring Natsu's calls for me to stop and slow down. Turning the corner sharply, I could hear the sounds of footsteps from the one running from me, along with their loud breaths as they struggled to breathe and run at the same time. I cursed under my breath; this guy was fast, whoever he was.

Adding a little boost of speed, I continued to chase the footsteps in the dark until I reached a fork in the maze of boxes. "Shit… where did he go?" I wondered out loud. I wished now that I had Natsu's flashlight. It was pitch-dark in here.

I yelped in surprise when a hand closed around my wrist, tugging me down the right-hand path. "You're a member of Fairy Tail?" my attacker gasped, and I realized with a start that the voice didn't belong to an adult, or even a teenager. It was the voice of a child who couldn't have been over twelve years old. Her hand was still attached to my wrist, gazing in awe down at my pink Fairy Tail mark.

"Uh, yes?" I answered uncertainly, feeling a bit better knowing it was only a kid. I yanked my hand from her grasp, rubbing my wrist and narrowing my eyes at her suspiciously. "Are you one of the people who's been stealing from the shopkeepers?"

The girl looked guilty, her eyes falling from my hand to her feet as she rubbed her arm sheepishly. "I… yeah," she admitted softly. "But I promise, I only did it to survive! I tried to get a job, but they all said I was too small and weak, too young… so I had to. I had to steal food for me and Carla. Please, don't turn me in!"

There were tears in her eyes, threatening to spill, and dang, I felt bad for her. I couldn't even tell if she was lying or if she genuinely felt bad. She could just be guilt-tripping me. "Who's Carla?" I demanded.

The girl hesitated, then turned around and crouched down on the ground, holding out her hand. "Carla, come out, please. It's… it's okay," she called softly a hint of fear in her voice. A small shape came out from around the corner, and I saw that it was a cat, a pure white one with a pink ribbon tied around its tail. It growled when it spotted me, its fur bristling slightly. The girl smiled as she scooped the cat into her arms, petting its back. "Carla is my best friend, but if I didn't steal for us, we would both die," she explained sadly.

I sighed, bending down onto my knees so that I was eye level with the girl, giving her a good looking-over. As I suspected, she was around eleven or twelve, with waist-long blue hair that covered the back of her pale green dress which looked as though it had been repaired more than once. She had deep brown eyes that stared back at me innocently; it didn't seem at all like she was lying to me. "What's your name?" I asked, my voice softening a touch.

"Wendy," the girl replied in a whisper, brushing her hair from her face timidly. "I'm sorry if I caused you trouble. I only stole a little food…"

"What about money? Where's the money you stole?"

Wendy's eyes widened in horror, and she shook her head quickly. "Money? I didn't steal any money, only food, I promise!" she replied, and I could see in her eyes that she was telling me the truth. So we'd found one bandit, but not the right one.

I sighed and stood up, pushing my bangs away from my face with one hand. "Damn, this is troublesome," I grumbled, glancing around. "Where are your parents, Wendy? They around?"

Wendy shook her head, refusing to meet my eyes. "My mom disappeared. I don't know where she went," she murmured, her voice shaking slightly. "I've been on my own for seven years."

"They never took you to a foster home or anything?" I said in surprise. How had this little girl survived on her own for seven years and not gotten caught until now?

Wendy bit her lip. "I didn't want to go to a foster home, because…" she mumbled something under her breath that I couldn't hear.

I frowned. "C'mon, kid, if you want to be heard, you've gotta speak up," I chastised.

"I'm sorry!" Wendy apologized immediately. "I said that I don't want to go to a foster home because… because I want to join Fairy Tail!"


	11. Let Him Be Himself

**I'm surprised that so many of you were so excited to see Wendy! xD she is my favorite character, and one who I think is a bit underrated, so it's cool to see so many people excited to see her. Good news; Winter Break is here! /dances/ That means not only can I get more done for this story, but on my other stories as well. Hopefully I can get back into the groove of 25 TILAY, and get started on a new idea I have in mind. Thank you all for being so supportive! Don't forget to drop a review and tell me what you think of this chapter! c:**

**artistofthemind: Super adorable, I agree x3**

**Sakura-Fiction: Haha, Natsu's off on his own, doing stuff~ you'll find out.**

**xxchatonxx: Merci c:**

**CuteFoxSage-NightShadeOwl: Thanks! A question? I can't guarantee if I can answer it, but you're welcome to PM me and ask.**

**lavawings: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. You'll find out soon who Wendy will room with. /evil laugh/ lawl, jk**

**Silvaze4evrand1: Wendy is my favorite character ever! She's so cute, but she grows so much over the course of the manga. Thanks for the review!**

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><p>"I said that I don't want to go to a foster home because… because I want to join Fairy Tail!" Wendy blurted out, her grip around Carla tightening. I blinked at her, shocked. So that's why she had been so interested in my Fairy Tail mark. "I hear stories about them a lot. About how they're so friendly and welcoming, and how they give you a home and an education, and it just sounded so amazing…" she trailed off.<p>

I ran my fingers over my own Fairy Tail mark, frowning. "Then why didn't you join? They're welcoming, you said so yourself," I asked.

Wendy looked down, a sad expression on her face. "I'm weak. I can't fight, or protect myself. I always run away. In Fairy Tail, you have to work to keep your place. Even if I did join, I wouldn't be able to make any money. I would just be a burden," she murmured, stroking Carla's head.

I frowned, falling silent. If that was the case, there was nothing I could do. "Gotta find Natsu," I mumbled to myself, squinting into the darkness in search of my missing partner. In hindsight, it was probably a bad idea to chase after Wendy. Now I was lost. "Natsu!" I called, cupping my mouth with my hands.

"Lucy!" I heard my name echoing in response, and let out a brief sigh of relief. He wasn't too far away. I turned to Wendy, narrowing my eyes at her. "You're coming with me. Keep close, alright?" I ordered, heading down the path, and to my surprise, Wendy complied. I had been expecting more of a fight, but obviously, she knew she was caught.

"Natsu!" I yelled again. Geez, this was turning into a game of Marco-Polo.

"Lucy!" I followed Natsu's voice until I finally spotted him, standing at the front of one of the small hallways. Behind him were what looked like a pile of… bodies? "What the… hell?"

Natsu grinned, waving to me. "Check it out, Luce! I caught the bandits!" he exclaimed, gesturing excitedly to the group of unconscious men behind him. "They were so stupid! They didn't even deny that they were the ones stealing money. And then they thought they could beat me in a fight!"

I blinked, gawking at the bandits. There had to be at least five men, all of them larger and older than Natsu, and yet he had beaten them all and wasn't even winded! "Are you kidding me?" I breathed. Swallowing, I approached Natsu and the group of bandits. "This is all of them, right?" I asked.

Natsu nodded in agreement. "I've already cuffed 'em, so all we need to do is call the police and claim our reward." He clasped his hands behind his head with a grin, his eyes trailing to where Wendy was hanging back, looking quite shy and even a bit afraid, with Carla still in her arms. His grin faltered. "Who's the kid?" he questioned, pointing.

I straightened up from my observation of the robbers to follow his pointed finger. "Her? That's Wendy. I found her on the other side of the warehouse. Apparently she's been stealing food for her and her cat. She's an orphan, has been for over seven years. I couldn't just leave her behind, so I guess she's coming with us. She said she wanted to join Fairy Tail."

"Aw, you _can_ be nice!" Natsu laughed, stooping down. "Well, hello, Wendy. You say you want to join Fairy Tail?" he grinned, tugging up the sleeve of his shirt to reveal his Fairy Tail insignia. "I'm Natsu, and I'm a member of Fairy Tail."

I curled my hand into a fist and hit Natsu on the top of the head, hard enough to hurt but not to injure. "I resent that comment," I muttered. "If I left her here, that wouldn't be finishing the request, would it? She'd keep stealing food. So what do you think? Do we take her back?" I asked, eyeing Wendy with a soft gaze. She reminded me a bit of who I was when I was younger.

Natsu rubbed his head, frowning at me, but wisely didn't comment. "I don't see why we can't," he replied with a shrug.

Wendy glanced up at Natsu, biting her lip. "But, but I'm not not strong, or powerful. I can't do any jobs or work..."

"That's why we have training programs for new recruits," Natsu explained. "It'll be tough, but I promise that it's worth it." he smiled at Wendy, brushing his bangs from his eyes. "They'll make you strong, take you on jobs with them, make sure you're taken care of. But that also means no more stealing."

The bright-eyed smile on Wendy's face threatened to spit it in half. She nodded vigorously. "No more stealing, ever," she agreed enthusiastically. "Can you really get me into Fairy Tail?"

Natsu grinned and nodded, reaching out to ruffle Wendy's hair. "Of course. It'll be easy," he replied. "How old are you?"

"Fourteen," Wendy replied. That was much older than I had guessed. She was small and childlike, a late bloomer, I supposed, or maybe just small. She was cute though, and so innocent, it would be easy for her to play the the 'frightened little girl' card and make herself seem weak. Once she became strong enough, I had no doubt she would be a force to be reckoned with. Maybe it was just a feeling, but it was like I could sense her potential. It seemed like Natsu had a similar thought.

"You'd be the youngest one there," Natsu warned. "Romeo is the youngest right now, and he's fifteen. It won't be easy, either. You'll be learning to spar and keep up with other people who are up to five years older than you, who have a lot more experience. The training will be rigorous and tough, and the jobs are no walk in the park, either. They can be dangerous, sometimes even life-threatening. Are you sure that's the life you want?"

Wendy hesitated only a moment glancing away to let her eyes wander over what used to be her home. Then her face set in determination, and she nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. It it'll get me out of here, I'll do anything," she replied, hugging Carla to her chest. "I can bring Carla, right?"

Natsu smiled. "Of course," he answered. "She has to stay in your room, though. Maybe someday I can bring Happy over for a playdate!" he reached out, and the white cat reluctantly let him rub her head.

"You have a cat?" I said, raising my eyebrows.

Natsu nodded, pushing himself to his feet. "Gramps doesn't let him wander, though. He's allergic, but Happy's pretty content to stay in my room." he flashed me a grin before turning to the pile of unconscious robbers behind him. "Lucy, call the police," he instructed, passing me a phone provided by the guild. Most of the members at Fairy Tail didn't have real phones, but Makarov provided a few for jobs for just this reason. "Wendy, can you help me get these guys to the doors of the warehouse?"

Wendy nodded eagerly, hoisting one of the smaller men up and draping him arms over her small shoulders so that she could drag him by his wrists. Natsu took two of the others and, with seemingly superhuman strength (or at least more strength than I possessed), flung them over his shoulders like sacks of flour.

I held the phone up to my ear, following Natsu out of the maze of boxes and towards the front doors, shielding my eyes against the setting sun as we exited the building. "Yes, hello?" I spoke once the line was finally picked up. "This is Lucy, a member of Fairy Tail… My partners, Natsu and Wendy, and I just finished rounding up those bandits for your job… We're waiting outside of the old warehouse on the west side of Shion… Thank you… Goodbye." I sighed as I hung up the phone. "The police are on their way," I announced.

Natsu nodded as he deposited the last of the robbers on the floor. There were five in all, all of them males. "Great job, team!" he said with a grin, even though he was the one who did all the work. "As soon as the police get here, we can pick up our reward and head back home."

I sunk down onto the ground gratefully, embracing the moment of rest. My legs were tired from chasing after Wendy; I was definitely not a runner. "If we keep this up, it should be easy to pass the S-class exams," I commented.

Natsu grinned, running a hand through his hair to push his bangs from his eyes. "Don't get comfortable! We only have a few weeks, and you're kidding if you think I'm going to go easy on you. Gramps wants me to make sure that you're in top shape for the tests," he said, his eyes glinting mischievously.

"What are the S-class exams?" Wendy interrupted with a curious look.

"In Fairy Tail, we all have a rank," Natsu explains. "It tells you what kinds of jobs you can do. S-class is the highest rank you can get, but you have to pass the yearly test to get it, and only one person per year can pass, if any! Jellal won last year, but this year I'll win for sure!"

"Not if I bear you to it!" I argued, smirking. "You're going to be eating my dust!"

Natsu laughed, clasping his hands behind his head. "Wow, Luce! I think this is the most excited I've ever seen you! Usually, you're super moody-"

I cut him off by punching him in the shoulder, scowling. Natsu winced and stepped back, pouting at me accusingly. "Ow! Why do all of our conversations always end with you hurting me?" he whined, rubbing the sore spot where I had hit him.

"Because you deserve it," I replied icily, placing my hands on my hips. "Don't just go around insulting women!"

"It wasn't an insult!" Natsu insisted. "If anything I was complimenting you! I thought it was cute when you were excited!"

I opened my mouth to reply, but I had no words to reply with. I swallowed, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. Did Natsu just… call me cute?

Thank God that Wendy knew how to read the mood. "Look, guys! There's the police," she said, pointing to where a police cruiser was approaching the warehouse, a black van trailing behind it.

I let Natsu explain the situation, standing back with Wendy while the men loaded the robbers into the back of the black van. After they were all loaded, the policeman handed over our reward. Then, without another word, he climbed back into the van and drove away. I had honestly been expecting more communication, but whatever. I wasn't the professional here.

Natsu grinned, sticking his hands in his pockets and making his way over to us. "Fifty thousand jewel, easy," he said with a grin, holding up the stack of bills. "Ten percent goes to Gramps to pay for the building, so that's…" he trailed off, counting on his fingers.

I rolled my eyes. "Five thousand," I finished for him. "Five thousand goes to the building. That leaves forty-five thousand left. So I get twenty-two thousand, five hundred jewel."

"You're good at math," Natsu commented, tucking the five thousand jewel into his pocket and splitting the stack in half, handing me my share. "There, now we can start to head back."

I nodded and pulled the train tickets from my purse. "Good thing I bought a round-trip ticket," I added, grinning mischievously.

Natsu gagged, and I could have sworn his face turned green. He looked at me pleadingly, but I ignored the look, turning to Wendy. "We'll have to get a ticket for you, too," I considered, tapping my fingertips on my thigh restlessly. "Well, that shouldn't be too hard."

Wendy glanced down for a moment, looking bashful, then she dug into a small bag on her hip and produced a small wad of crumpled bills. "It's not very much at all, not even enough to buy food, but… it should help a little with paying for the ticket," she offered, smoothing the pieces of paper on her leg and holding them out to me.

I blinked in surprise, taking the bills from her. The total sum was barely enough to pay for five percent of her ticket, but I smiled faintly at the gesture. "That's very sweet, thank you," I said.

Wendy smiled brightly at my gesture, and I turned around. I caught Natsu's eye briefly, seeing a strange look on his face. I frowned. "What's with that look?" I asked defensively.

Natsu blinked and shook his head, looking puzzled. "Sorry, it's nothing," he replied, waving off his strange behavior. "Let's go get Wendy a train ticket."

I made Natsu and Wendy wait by the train while I bought the extra ticket, careful to make sure it matched up with the two I already had. "That ought to do it," I said to myself, thanking the counter worker before making my way back to where Natsu and Wendy were waiting for me. Natsu looked unhealthily pale, staring at the train in dread, and I couldn't help the smile smile that came to my lips at the sight of his uncomfortable expression. It was humorous how trains made him sick.

"I still can't believe you get motion sick so easily," I commented, waving for them to follow me to the train.

"It's not my fault!" Natsu insisted, holding his stomach as if he might throw up before we even got on the train. "Motion sickness is a real problem! People throw up on trains!"

"Motion sickness?" Wendy echoed. "I think I have something for that." she dug around in her purse again, pulling out a small box of what used to be crackers, pulling out an object that looked like a sticker from out of it. "These are my mother's special motion sickness patches. She used to get sick a lot before she… left." she paused, shaking her head of the bad memories. "I also get motion sickness, so I had these from my old house. I haven't used any of them, though. I never needed to use transportation." she offered one of the patches to Natsu. "You just peel off the plastic and stick it to your upper arm. It'll feel weird at first, but it works wonders."

Natsu's eyes widened. "It really works?" he exclaimed, accepting the patch from Wendy and peeling off the plastic. He stuck it to his arm enthusiastically. "Alright! Let's go take the train!" he exclaimed, rushing towards the boarding dock.

I sighed and shook my head. "Do those things really work?" I asked skeptically, turning to regard Wendy curiously.

Wendy giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. "Alright, I'll let you in on the secret. Those patches are just wet cotton balls wrapped in plastic. My mom did this to help me get over my motion sickness. I didn't realize what they were until last year when one of them broke on accident. But now I don't get motion sickness anymore."

"That's… genius," I said. "I wonder if it'll really work?" Wendy just shrugged in reply to my statement and the two of us boarded the train. Natsu was already sitting in the middle, saving a bench seat for the three of us, so we took a seat on either side of him.

"_Attention, passengers. The first train from Shion to Magnolia will be departing now,"_the train conductor announced over the intercom, and the train lurched forward. I gripped the seat beneath me to keep steady, sighing and sitting back.

Natsu froze, as if waiting for the motion sickness to come over. The train continued to increase speed, and I turned my gaze to observe him, a humorous glint in my eye. "It's working!" he exclaimed, his eyes lighting up excitedly. "It's working! I don't feel sick at all!" he laughed out loud, attracting the attention of other train riders, but when they looked to me for an explanation, I just shrugged and clasped my hands behind my head. Call me crazy, but it was actually pretty adorable when he was so excited. He gaze Wendy a big hug and thanked her profusely, much to the younger girl's discomfort, and jumped around a bit before he finally settled down, sighing contentedly. "That's amazing, Wendy. I don't believe it."

"I don't believe it, either," I replied, exchanging a knowing glance with Wendy. Natsu was such a child sometimes, but I was content to let him be himself.


	12. Not Really My Thing

**Hooray**** for filler chapters! Man, this story i going by slowly xD I hope you guys don't mind. There should be plenty of action in the next few chapters, though, and then the real plot kicks in!**

**AudreyKimberly: She's adorable, isn't she x3 I hope I got her personality right!**

**CuteFoxSage-NightShadeOwl: Thanks! I love doing that kind of stuff. It's interesting to see how I can take Fairy Tail magic and make it into something that can be used in the real world.**

**lavawings: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter!**

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><p>The next several days of my life were spent with no second wasted. Natsu worked me to the bone every day, to the point where the following morning, I was so sore it was hard to walk. Oftentimes my short, quiet mornings were spent stretching out my sore muscles and taking painkillers to prepare myself for the day's workout.<p>

Natsu was a surprisingly good teacher. He was extremely hard on his students, but he was a good teacher all the same. The last three days before the S-class exams, he gave me time to relax and recover from the rigorous training. I was grateful for the thought, and spent most of those three days sleeping and hanging around the Fairy Tail main building.

The day of the exams came quickly for everyone, and the morning thereof was especially hectic. Levy woke me a full twenty-eight minutes before my alarm went off, buzzing about the room. "Rise and shine, Lu!" she called, tossing me a tee-shirt and a pair of shorts. "There not much time!"

I sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "Levy, the train doesn't leave for another two hours!" I groaned.

Levy slipped on an orange halter-top dress with white straps, straightening her headband. "Yeah, but we have to be ready and at the train station in an hour and a half so Master can explain the tests to us," she pointed out. "So get up! You have an hour to shower, eat and get ready. The bathroom is free right now, but hurry up before someone beats you to it!"

I sighed heavily, reluctantly dragging my tired self out of bed, and grabbed a towel before making my way out of the room and into the bathroom beside it. As Levy had said, it was empty, so I slipped into the shower room and locked the door behind me, turning on the water. I made sure to keep my shower quick, scrubbing my hair and skin clean before stepping back out, wrapping a towel around my hair and slipping on the clothes Levy had provided for me. Running a hairbrush through my tangled, wet hair, I hurried to get ready, grabbing my belt with my whip and keys on it and a sweatshirt, just in case. Levy had already gone, I noticed, her bo staff already missing from its spot by her bed.

I hurried downstairs, grabbing a bagel from the kitchen on the way, and exited the main building. Levy was waiting outside for me, her staff's bag slung across her back and her blue hair tied back in a ponytail, her headband pushing her bangs out of her face. "There you are!" she exclaimed, glancing at her watch. "We have twenty minutes. Let's go!"

I nodded, double-checking to make sure I had everything. Whip, check. Throwing knives, just in case, check. Keys, check. "Okay, I'm ready," I replied, and the two of us set off down the crowded Magnolia streets. The train station was practically on the other side of the city, so it took us the whole twenty minutes to walk from the main building to our destination.

By the time we got to the train station, it was packed with people. "Looks like a crowd showed up for the send-off," Levy commented. "The S-class exams aren't just a Fairy Tail event. It's a Magnolian tradition to show up at the send-off and place bets on the member you think will win. They get really into the tests, even though Master's rules forbid them from seeing the actual tests."

"How interesting," I mused, examining the crowd. "I had no idea this was such a huge event." Men, women, and children alike were gathered around the boarding platform, and through the windows I could spot some of the other contenders already seated.

Levy nodded in agreement and the two of us climbed onto the train. The strange part was that the crowd was cheering. Cheering my name. How did they know my name? Was I really that popular already? I had no clue as to why they would notice me. I swallowed, feeling a bit nervous as I boarded the train behind Levy.

The first person I saw when I got on the train was Natsu. "Luce!" he called to me cheerfully. He was sitting in the very front seat next to Romeo. "It's about time you showed up. You're the last pair to arrive."

I shot Natsu a warning glare, silently ordering him to lay off the nickname already. Glancing around, though I realized that he was right. In addition to Natsu and Romeo, the other fives pairs of contestants were already sitting aboard the train. Elfman and Evergreen, Juvia and Lisanna, Gray and Loke, Freed and Bickslow, and Cana, who was seated beside a head of blue hair who's face I couldn't see over the top of the bench. "Is that Wendy?" I asked in surprise. Sitting next to the ornery brunette was the newest member of Fairy Tail.

Wendy smiled and waved to me timidly. She was so shy, even after being here nearly three weeks already. "Cana asked me to be her partner when I joined a few weeks ago. She's been training me for the exams," she replied. "I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn more about Fairy Tail."

"I want to teach her a few things before I become S-class," Cana added, taking a swig from her water bottle which I suspected was not really filled with water, but I didn't ask. I took a seat beside Levy and across from Natsu, frowning. "Do they really let Cana drink so much before the exams?" I asked.

Levy gave a small, somewhat sad smile. "Well, you see, Cana never drinks before the exams. It's just the way she does things. This time of year is always an anxious time for her. She probably hasn't had a drop of alcohol in several days," she replied.

"Seriously?" I exclaimed. "That's impressive. I didn't know Cana could go that long without a drink."

"I resent that!" Cana yelled from a few seats back, scowling at me down the aisle. Beside her, Wendy was trying hard not to laugh.

I rolled my eyes as a half-hearted response, but before I could answer, Makarov boarded the train and the train shifted, beginning to move. Makarov cleared his throat. "Shut up, you brats!" he yelled, effectively gaining the attention of the fourteen teenagers. When they and gone silent, he continued, "As you all know, today is the day of the S-class Promotional Exam. As of now, you are all enemies competing for the title of S-class! The first test is one that we do every year. When we arrive at Tenrou Island, you will find yourself faced with a choice: pick one of eight different pathways that I and my S-class members have already set up for you. Four of those paths will lead to a confrontation with another pair of candidates. Two of them will lead to a confrontation with either Erza or Mirajane, who are both S-class. The last path is the lucky path. If you choose the right one, you pass the first test without having to fight. Anyone who passes the first test will then move on to the second test, which I will explain when we get to it. Any questions?"

"I feel sick," Natsu groaned from across the aisle, his face smooshed up against the front of the bench he and Romeo sat on. His face was a sickly shade of green, and his hands hung limply between his legs.

Wendy poked her head over the edge of the seat, tilting it to one side. "Would you like another one of my patches?" she asked, offering the pointless sticker to him.

Natsu instantly seemed to brighten up, accepting the patch from Wendy with a quick thank-you and sticking it to his shoulder. Wendy met my eyes and winked at me, and I had to fight the small smile that came to my lips. I wondered how many times this would happen before Natsu realized that the patches were just stickers filled with water. They certainly seemed to work, though, because the color came back into his face and he grinned. "That's much better," he sighed contentedly. "Thanks a bunch, Wendy. You're the best."

Wendy flashed Natsu a smile before leaning back in her seat again, crossing her legs. I sighed and let my head fall against the back of my seat, closing my eyes briefly. Perhaps I could take a nap on the way?

"Don't fall asleep, Lu," Levy warned. "The train ride is about half an hour long, and then we have to transfer onto a boat to sail to the island. You can sleep there, if you really want to."

I sighed softly, nodding to show I had heard. "I was so excited about the S-class exam that I didn't get very much sleep," I explained, staring up at the ceiling of the train.

Levy giggled. "You know, I've never seen you so excited about something like this before. It's like a new side of you," she commented with a smile. "I like it."

I frowned, opening one eye to glance at Levy curiously. "Why does everyone keep saying that?" I wondered aloud. "Natsu even called me moody yesterday! I'm not that depressing! Besides, it's normal to get excited about stuff like this." I crossed my arms defensively. "I think you would be lying if you said there was someone here who wasn't excited, even a little bit. I finally get to test my skills, for real, not just in training. I haven't had a decent fight in forever." the last really interesting brawl I'd been in was when I had fought those muggers almost a month and a half ago. The effects of that fight were long gone, the shallow cut on my hip healed so that only a small, almost invisible mark remained.

Levy shrugged. "I guess so, but it's rare for you to show things like that," she commented. "You don't smile very often, either."

"Maybe I don't smile because I don't want to," I snapped, maybe a little too harshly, because I saw Levy give a little jump, staring at me in surprise. I sighed and shook my head. "Never mind, just forget it," I sighed, glancing up so that I didn't have to look at her, or at Natsu. "It's just who I am, and you all have to accept it."

After that, the train car descended into relative silence. Levy pulled a book out of her bag and began to read, while I stared past her and out the window, watching the scenery rush past in a blur of color. I could hear Natsu complaining about how long the ride was across from me, but I ignored him, letting myself get lost in my own thoughts. It was a little angry at myself for yelling at Levy like that. When I thought about it, I realized that she didn't really _know_ anything about me, just little facts I'd told her in the month and a half we'd been roommates. I couldn't blame her for wanting me to be happier, but I just wasn't a cheerful person. It didn't mean I wasn't at least comfortable, I just didn't express it very well. It was a problem I'd had since I was little.

Growing up, I'd been pretty lonely. I had my mother and my servants, but Father was always too wrapped up in his work to bother himself with his poor daughter. I still don't know the reason why he did what he did, but I only ever really saw him when he came out of his office to eat. If you asked me to describe him, I wouldn't be able to, because I simply didn't know. Who knows what his state of mind was when he pulled the trigger?

Just the thought made me flinch, and I pushed the thoughts from my mind hastily, glancing around. Natsu was playing with a loose string on the edge of his vest, and Romeo was staring out the window. Behind them, Wendy had fallen asleep on Cana's shoulder, the former of whom was sitting cross-legged on the bench, working on what seemed to be an origami crane. She looked frustrated, though, fiddling with the folds and creases. The dull background noise of muttered conversation and the steady rhythm of the train's sounds filled the silence as the train puttered on, steadily making its way towards where I could see the ocean in the distance. "We're almost there" I commented.

Natsu's head shot up, his attention drawn from his vest, and he grinned, pumping his fist in the air. "Alright! I'm all fired up!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Levy giggled, leaning forward to see Natsu around me. "Don't get too excited. Once we get off the train, it's still an hour by ship to the island," she said. Natsu's face fell at her comment.

"An hour?" he cried dramatically "What am I supposed to do for an hour?!"

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to get some rest before the tests begin," I answered. "Maybe you should take a nap, too."

"I think now would he a good time," Levy interjected, standing up despite the train's movement. "to do Wendy's initiation. She needs to have the Fairy Tail mark before she can participate in the exams, but with all the preparation going on, we haven't had time to do it."

Cana raised her eyebrows at Levy, resting her hands in her lap, her legs crossed on top of the seat. "Now? Did you bring everything?" she asked. "We've never done initiation anywhere other than the lounge."

Levy nodded, digging into her bag and handing Cana a bandana. "Go ahead and blindfold her," she said.

"B-Blindfold?" Wendy echoed nervously. Cana grinned, her eyes twinkling mischievously, and tied the blindfold over Wendy's eyes.

"Sorry, Wens, but it's necessary," she said, tying off the bandana. "First, a test of faith."

Levy held out a plastic bag, which I saw was full of plastic body parts, like the hand I had pulled out at my own initiation. Cana accepted the bag from Levy and held it out to her petite partner. "Put your hand in the bag and choose one," she instructed.

Wendy gulped nervously, but there was little hesitation as she reached her hand into the bag. She visibly relaxed when she discovered that the objects were harmless, selecting on and pulling it out.

"Right shoulder!" Cana announced, and there was a round of cheering from the teens on the train. "You can take off the blindfold, now."

Wendy slipped the bandana off and handed it back to Cana with a smile. "What's this about?" she asked curiously.

Levy ignored Wendy's questions, moving on to the next test. "Second, a test of honesty," she said. "Wendy, what's the first color that comes to mind?"

"Midnight blue," Wendy replied instantly. "It's my favorite."

Levy blinked, thinking for a moment. "That's very specific. Dark blue!" she called. There was another round of cheering. Levy waited for the cheering to die down before speaking again. "Thirdly, a test of trust. We'll have to wait for the train to stop before we can do this, though. When the train stops, I want everyone off the train except for Wendy. Understood?" Shouts of agreement sounded at Levy's words. Levy smiled and sat down again.

It didn't take long for the train to stop, and when it did, everyone stood up at once and filed out of the train. Wendy stayed put, shifting awkwardly in her seat. I exited the train last, and Levy waved me over along with the other girls. "Alright, everyone. Partner up and form a net!"

Levy grabbed my hand, much to my unexpressed protest, and lined up beside the other two pairs, consisting of Juvia and Lisanna, and Cana and Evergreen. They clasped their hands together, forming a net-like structure with their hands. "Alright, Wendy!" Levy called. "Come on out!"

After a moment, Wendy's small figure appeared at the top of the landing. She glanced at us in surprise. "W-What is this?" she asked nervously.

Levy smiled. "A test of trust!" she replied. "Turn around, and just fall. We'll catch you, I promise!"

We will? I wasn't informed of this. Sure, Wendy was small and light enough that it should be no problem catching her, but a little foresight would have been nice. Wendy looked less than eager to go through with Levy's plan. She turned around glancing over her shoulder. "Are you sure about this?" she asked. Levy gave her a nod, and Wendy gulped, closing her eyes tightly as she turned her back to us. "O-Okay, here I go…!" she let herself fall straight backwards, her hands clutching her shoulders and her eyes shut tight in preparation for the impact. I grunted softly as she landed on our "net", gripping Levy's hands tighter to make sure she didn't fall through.

The girls broke into cheers as they set Wendy down on her feet, clapping her on the back and congratulating her. Levy held up the stamp, which I recognized from my own initiation. "Congratulations, Wendy Marvell. You are now officially a member of Fairy Tail! May I see your right shoulder?"

Wendy smiled brightly, turning so that her shoulder, bared by her halter-top dress, was facing Levy. She pressed the stamp against Wendy's shoulder, and when she pulled it back, the stamp was clear for all to see.

The guys, who had been watching in anticipation, burst into frantic cheers and whistles, and the rest of us joined in, chanting Wendy's name.

I watched the activities with a half-smile on my face. Cheering wasn't really my thing.


	13. Congratulations

**The S-class exams are finally beginning! In all honesty, I don't like this chapter as much as some of the other ones. I think I just really wanted to write some badass Erza despite my dislike of her xD Well, enjoy this anyway! This story almost has more reviews than To Save A Life, which had fifteen chapters in the end.**

**lavawings: yay Wendy xD These last few chapters have been focusing heavily on her, since she's my favorite character.**

**CuteFoxSage-NightShadeOwl: Thanks! I know it's pretty boring now, but it'll get better x3**

**artistofthemind: Oh? Who's your first? Wendy's my favorite, she's so cute and has a deep character.**

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><p>"Enough cheering, brats!" Makarov yelled. We had all been celebrating Wendy's appointment into Fairy Tail for a good five minutes now, and I could tell he was getting sick of all the cheering. "If you don't get on that boat right now, it'll leave without us!" he pointed expressively to where a ship was docked at the harbor, bobbing slowly in the waves.<p>

Levy giggled. "Okay everyone! We'll continue our celebration on the boat!" she said, waving the other teens towards the ship.

I followed the group to the boat, climbing on and looking around. It was pretty nice, spacious, with lawn chairs bolted to the deck for sunbathing. Inside was a covered area abovedeck where a bar had been set up for the passengers of legal age (which would be Makarov, as the rest of us were students). "There are rooms downstairs if you want to relax, or whatever," Makarov said. "You all are free to explore, just don't break anything, and stay out of trouble!"

"I'm gonna go take a nap," I announced, heading towards the staircase, but Natsu intercepted me, looping his arm through mine.

"Come on, Lucy! Let's explore!" he insisted, tugging me away from the stairs. "I've never actually seen what the inside of a boat looks like!"

I yanked my arm from Natsu's grip with a glare. "Do it by yourself!" I snapped. "I'm tired, and I want to get some sleep before the tests. The last thing I want is to fall asleep during them!"

Natsu pouted at me, giving me those pleading eyes of his. "But Luce, it's not fun by myself!" he insisted in a whiny voice. "You won't fall asleep during the exam, anyway! You'll be too excited!" he grinned, as if this was the most plausible explanation in the world.

I rolled my eyes. "Then go with Gray or something. I'm going to get some sleep," I grumbled, turning my back on Natsu and heading to the stairs.

"Lucy, you're so boring," Natsu whined, trailing behind me like some kind of dog. "There's no way I would go with Gray! Just who do you take me for?!"

I sighed heavily, pushing my bangs back from my forehead with one hand and resting the other on the guardrail of the stairwell. "Whatever. Follow along if you want. It's not like I get any privacy on my own anyway."

Natsu grinned and jogged a bit to catch up with me, glancing around the bottom floor of the ship. "So this is where the rooms are?" he clarified.

I nodded, peeking into one of the empty rooms. It was a bit cramped, but homely, with a bed, nightstand, television, and a sort of kitchen set up in one corner. "Nice," I commented approvingly, walking inside. I slipped off my purse and sat down on the bed, setting it down beside me. Laying down, I sighed contentedly and clasped my hands behind my head. "Go ahead and explore if you want. I'm gonna get some sleep."

Natsu nodded agreement and began to open cupboard doors at random, examining their contents. I let my eyes droop closed, exhausted from the last few long days, lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking of the boat and the noise of Natsu nosing about the little cabin. Before long, I had fallen into a restful sleep.

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><p>"Luuuce, wake up already!"<p>

I grunted softly and rolled onto my side, keeping my eyes firmly shut. Stop trying to wake me up, Natsu. I just want to sleep.

"Lucy, come on," Natsu whined, shaking me gently. "You've been asleep for a whole hour."

I'd like to keep it that way, thank you very much.

"Dammit, Lucy! I swear to God if you don't get up right now we're going to start the S-class exams without you!" Natsu growled threateningly. He sounded about ready to push me off the bed if that's what it took.

I sighed heavily and kicked my feet off the bed. "Alright, I'm getting up," I grumbled, pushing myself into a sitting position and rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "Where are the others?"

"Waiting," Natsu replied. "Come on, weirdo! We don't want to be late!" He waved me towards the door of the room, and I followed hastily, jogging up the stairs and towards the side of the boat where the others were waiting. It was then that I noticed the lack of movement of the ship. It had docked on the shore of a small island. A thin beach separated the thick, almost jungle-like forest from the ocean, and in the center of the island was a massive tree, its branches stretched out to cover the island like a giant umbrella. A wooden one with a flimsy top. "Is that Tenrou?" I asked, coming up to stand beside Levy.

The bluenette nodded. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" she murmured, eyes shining. "It's just like how I remember." she leaned against the railing, laying her head in the crook of her crossed arms, and smiled.

A moment later, there was a loud creaking noise, and a small bridge extended from the side of the ship, sticking itself into the grainy sand of the beach while Makarov shouted at them to get started. Levy met my gaze with a look of pure excitement, and grabbed my hand. "The tests have begun! We'd better get a move on!" she cried, tugging me from my spot and running down the ramp and onto the island.

There was a path cut through the trees on the island, with signs set up at increments to label it as we ran. Eventually the path opened up into a sort of clearing at the base of a steep, almost mountainous hill. In front of us were several paths, each one labeled with a letter, A to G. They were pitch-black inside, and curved in a way so that you couldn't see the end of them.

"Seven choices," Levy murmured. "We have a six out of seven chance of having a fight. At the conclusion of the fights, a minimum of three and a maximum of five teams can move on to the next test, depending on the difficulty of the opponent. It really is a test of picking a path and hoping your opponent is weaker than you. Even with the minimum three teams moving on, that's still a nearly fifty percent chance of making it." she grinned at Lucy confidently. "I'd say we have this test in the bag."

"Come on, Romeo! We're taking the C path!" Natsu exclaimed, and dragged the younger boy (against his will, judging by the way Romeo struggled and tried to dissuade his childish partner) down the path marked 'C'. "Erza's going to be down this path for sure! I can feel it!"

I rolled my eyes at Natsu's hasty decision, but this only seemed to spur Levy on. "In that case, we should get going while we still have a choice! Which path should we take?" she glanced at me expectantly, but I just shrugged. There was no way to know what was laying behind any one of these pathways. Levy frowned, turning back to the paths. "Eenie, meenie, miney, G!" she decided hastily, and began running towards the open pathway. "Come on, Lu!"

"Wait up!" I cried, chasing after Levy. As I stepped across the threshold of the cave-like path, there was a loud bang behind me, and with a start I realized that I was now in near-complete darkness. The entryway behind me had sealed itself shut, blocking off entrance to anyone else who would want to take it. "Levy!" I called, attempting to find my partner in the darkness.

"Motion sensors," Levy murmured. "How efficient. Now no one can take the same path as someone else." she pointed to where a blinking red light momentarily illuminated the otherwise pitch-dark space. "There's nothing we can do about it now. We should keep moving."

I nodded agreement, groping my way to the wall of the path and using that as an anchor, careful of where I stepped. "If I had known it would be so dark, I would have brought a flashlight," I muttered crossly.

"I'm way ahead of you," Levy replied, and a beam of light lit the way down the path. Levy winked at me, waving the flashlight. "I brought a lot of stuff with me, so just ask if you need anything." she said, beginning to make her way down the path. "I remember this from last year, but the motion sensors are new."

I nodded, although I wasn't really sure how to answer, as I had never actually been here before. After a moment of silence, I spotted a sliver of light opening up in the distance. "I think that's the exit!" I said, pointing. We quickened our pace until the path began to expand, growing gradually brighter until we emerged into a large, brightly lit cavern of rock. "We must be directly under the hill," I commented, staring up at the ceiling. Stalactites hung like dangerous spikes from the rocky dome, and the whole room smelled of sulfur and dust.

"You're correct," a voice answered my comment, except that it wasn't Levy's voice. I felt a tingle go up my spine as I recognized the voice immediately.

I turned on my heels, my eyes widening. "Aw, crap! We have to fight Erza?"

Erza was standing, blocking the exit at the other side of the clearing. She had on a pair of loose sweatpants and a skin-tight, stretchy top, a combination she liked to use while training. In one hand she held a sword, its sharp edges glinting dangerously in the light. I swallowed; it wouldn't be very hard to kill someone with a sword like that. She crouched down, holding the sword in front of her. "Now then, let's not waste more time. Have at me!"

I narrowed my eyes, tensing my body. Erza was an enemy now. An obstacle, and I would defeat her. I leaned towards Levy, whispering in her ear, "Take her from the right, I'll go left."

Levy gave a faint nod and reached behind her back, drawing her staff from behind her back. I unclipped the whip from my belt, snapping it once to untangle it from its spot wound around its clip.

And then it began. I veered sharply left, lifting the whip's handle above my head, and let out a yell as I brought it down sharply, aiming to restrict Erza's arm. She jumped back, a fierce determination in her eyes, and raised her sword, swinging it sharply and using the flat end to knock the end of the whip off its course. Levy came at her from the right, twirling the staff above her head for momentum before bringing it down. Erza blocked the blow expertly, still using her sword, her fingers light yet also firm on the handle of the weapon in her hand. She grunted, and I noticed that her foot shifted back from the brute force of Levy's attack. Levy was stronger than I thought she would be.

I jumped back, taking a moment to survey the fight. Levy leaned back, kicking in a nearly vertical fashion. Her leg connected with Erza's sword arm, and I could see the surprise in the red-haired woman's eyes. She jumped back, her grip on her sword loosening.

_An opening!_ I realized. Rushing forward, I raised my whip and snapped it, feeling satisfied as the end wrapped around Erza's wrist. Tugging hard on the handle, I yanked Erza's arm away from her body, and with a yell the sword fell from her hand, lodging in the dirt beside her.

Levy swooped in, blocking Erza's arm with her staff as she tried to reach for her sword, and kicked the weapon back so that it slid against the smooth ground. "Not so fast!" she yelled. "We're going to win this fight!"

Erza smirked. "Well done," she commented. "Disarming me is the first step towards your victory, but I don't think this is a fair fight." twisting her wrist, she grabbed the string of my whip, still wrapped tightly around her arm, and pulled it with a grunt. I yelped as she pulled me off-balance, the whip's handle falling from my hand. At the same time, she reached out with her other hand and smacked Levy in the arm with a power I didn't know she possessed, snatching the staff right out of Levy's hands. "Much better," she said, tossing the weapons behind her. The clattered onto the ground a few feet away, leaving all three of us unarmed. "Now is where you start to prove yourself. How do you react when you are disarmed by an enemy?"

I clenched my teeth, fists curled at my side. Hand to hand combat is what Natsu had been training me in the last several weeks. I let out a yell, and aimed a punch at Erza's face. She stopped the attack easily with one hand and swung her leg up, dragging me sideways and bringing her leg into my side.

I gasped, stumbling back a few feet and struggling to keep upright. I fell to my knees, clutching my side where she had struck me. She could kick _hard_!

Levy let out a cry and tumbled to the ground beside me, the breath knocked out of her. She pushed herself into a sitting position, wincing. "What do we do now, Lu?" she whispered. "I think it's pretty obvious that a head-on assault isn't working out for us."

"Agreed," I sighed, staring up at Erza. The red-haired woman was waiting, hands on her hips. She didn't even try to reach for her sword. "She's toying with us, dammit. We need to be smart."

I clenched my teeth, risking a glance around. My whip, along with Levy's staff, were still laying on the ground behind Erza, covered in dust. It seemed like a long shot to get them now. "Let's go. I have a plan," I said, and without waiting for a response, I dug my foot into the ground and hurtled forward, ducking a punch from Erza and kicking out my feet, sliding between her legs. I pushed myself up on the other side and made a wild dive for my whip.

Erza caught hold of my ankle right before I could grasp the handle of the whip. "No you don't!" I yelled, digging my fingers into the almost sandy ground and throwing a handful of grit at Erza's face.

The red-haired woman closed her eyes instinctively and released my ankle in favor of shielding her eyes from my attack, giving me enough time to scramble forward and scoop up my whip along with Levy's staff.

Erza straightened herself up, brushing bits of the floor from her hair. She grinned at me, opening her eyes. "Well done! Use your surroundings to you advantage!" she said. "Now the real test begins!"

Before I had time to process her words, Erza lunged forward, taking the offensive. She yelled and jumped into the air, her hair fanning out behind her.

Pushing myself to my feet, I swung my whip above my head and cracked it so that the end wrapped tightly around Erza's ankle. I jumped out of the way as the landed and yanked hard on the handle, pulling her feet out from under her.

Erza yelped as she landed hard on her back, but she recovered quickly, kicking her foot free of my whip's grip. "Not bad, but you'll have to do better if you want to keep me down," she said, raising a fist as she advanced on me.

I cursed under my breath, raising my own fists to defend myself. When Erza threw the first punch, I was ready, and I side-stepped, bringing my knee up into Erza's stomach. Erza gasped and collapsed onto her back, and in that time I reached down a pulled one of my throwing knives from a halter hidden in my boot. I planted my knees on either side of Erza's waist and held the sharp weapon up threateningly.

Erza grinned. "I can see that going easy on you was a mistake. You're stronger than I thought, Lucy," she commented. There was moment of silence, and then a sharp pain in my shoulder. I felt my hand which had been holding the knife flail in thin air, and then suddenly I was laying on my back, and Erza had my knife, the tip pressed against my throat softly. "I'm a trained warrior, Lucy. Don't forget that."

I blanched, the color draining from my face. "How…?" I began, entirely at a loss for words. In a split second, I had gone from being in a winning position to being completely defenseless.

Erza's features softened, and she smiled at me, pulling the knife away and flipping it in her hand before tucking it into her boot. She stood up and offered me a hand, which I took, and she pulled me to my feet. "That was a wonderful fight, Lucy." she paused, turning to face my partner, who was gawking at Erza, wide-eyed. "Levy, you've gotten much stronger since the tests last year. It's a shame you aren't participating."

I curled my hands into fists, clenching my teeth. "Damn. Even after all that, I still couldn't win…" I sighed, feeling defeated. "So much for S-class."

Erza chuckled slightly. "On the contrary, Lucy. You passed," Erza replied. I looked up in shock. Erza met my gaze with a soft, fond one. "Even in the short time you've been here, I can see how much you've grown, how strong you've become. I think you would make an excellent S-class member." She lifted her hand and pointed to the other side of the cave, where a small open space led into another path. "Down that way, you'll be able to meet up with the other participants. Congratulations, Lucy. I wish you luck."


	14. Already Gone

**I've been a little depressed ever since chapter 414 came out on Monday. I can't wait for the new chapter! For those of you who haven't read it, I won't spoil, but ugh! I cried. Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed! This is the chapter where things get real! Now there's an actual plot to go off of! xD I hope you all enjoy it! I'm glad to see that you all enjoyed Lucy and Erza's sparring match despite the fact that I was gritting my teeth through my entire editing session. I don't like Erza. Oh well xD**

**Also, random note, but if you find my Fairy Tail Abridged reference and understand it, props to you.**

**CuteFoxSage-NightShadeOwl: haha, thanks! I'm glad you liked it!**

**AMMiss: Yay, a new friend! xD Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!**

**Coolanime14: Thanks!**

**AudreyKimberly: c;**

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><p>"That was amazing, Lu!" Levy exclaimed as the two of us made our way down the path.<p>

"My throat hurts," I replied sulkily, rubbing the spot where my knife had broken the skin of my throat. A small red dot sat there now, already healing but still sore. "I can't believe it. I didn't even come close to beating her."

Levy smiled at me. "Well, she _is_ S-class," she pointed out. "We knew already that she was strong. But you were totally awesome, too! Natsu's training really paid off!"

I shrugged half-heartedly. "Well, the important thing is that we can keep going, right?" I said, to which Levy nodded eagerly.

The path we were following opened up into a large sunlit clearing ringed by trees. Benches had been set up around the edge of the clearing, and I could see that some of the teams were already here. "Finally, we're out!" Levy exclaimed, stretching her arms. "It was too dark in there. I like the sunlight much more."

I glanced around, surveying the area. Elfman and Evergreen had already made it back, along with Cana and Wendy, Juvia and Lisanna, and Natsu and Romeo. "So Juvia's team and Gray's team have yet to arrive," I commented.

Natsu waved to me as we approached, his usual grin on his face. "Lucy! You made it!" he called. "Did you pass? What path did you take?"

"We took the G path," Levy answered for me. "We ended up fighting Erza, but yes, we passed."

The look on Natsu's face was well worth the half-truths Levy was telling, and I could see by the look in her eyes that that had been her intention. His mouth hung open, his eyes popping out of his head. "Are you kidding?!" he yelled. "You fought Erza?! And you _beat_ he?!"

"Well, more or less," I muttered under my breath, and Levy giggled. I sat down on the bench beside Natsu, who was moaning over his 'stolen victory'. "What path did you guys take?"

Natsu folded his arms sulkily, clearly still cross about the whole Erza matter. "We took the C path, but there was no one to fight!" he complained. "Turns out we took the lucky path."

"Cana and I took the A path," Wendy put in, "and we passed!" she smiled radiantly, her eyes glittering excitedly.

"They're stronger than I anticipated," Evergreen admitted. "Elfman and I didn't stand a chance."

"We ended up fighting Mirajane," Freed said, shivering at the thought. "Who knew that demon could be so scary?"

I frowned, curious. "Is she really that powerful?"

"My sister is a man!"

"She's a woman, you buffoon!"

"Oi, would it kill you all to quiet down once in a while?" Our attention was called to Gray, who had appeared at the entrance to one of the pathways. Loke stood beside him, and behind them were Juvia and Lisanna. All four of them looked exhausted, and all of them were breathing hard. They must have just finished their fight.

Natsu laughed at his long-time rival's muddled appearance. "Wow, Gray! Did you get beat up by a couple of girls?" he taunted, sneering at the taller boy. "That would be hilarious!"

Gray scowled at Natsu, flicking the pink-haired boy hard in the forehead. "We won, you idiot! Shouldn't it be obvious?" he replied scornfully. "Lay off, Strawberry!"

"That's a new one," I commented. Levy snickered beside me.

Natsu clenched his teeth, jumping up from his seat. "You icy bastard! Say that to my face!" he demanded.

Gray met him with an equally impertinent scowl. "I just did, you flaming idiot," he countered.

"That's quite enough." The brawling boys immediately froze as Erza approached them, glaring at them disapprovingly. "Save your strength for the second test," she advised, coming up beside the two boys and placing a hand on each of their shoulders. She cleared her throat, addressing the rest of the competitors. "Master Makarov has given me a message to relay to you. The second and final test of the S-class Promotional Exams is to locate an object that the Master has hidden somewhere on this island. It's a palm-sized stone, a yellow one, that shines brightly during the day." she paused, pulling a folded-up paper from the pocket of her sweatpants. "Master had left you this riddle to solve as a clue. 'I am hidden in plain sight, in a place with roots that grow into the clouds. Look for me, and I am not there, but am hidden.' That's all I am allowed to tell you. The whole island is available for you to explore. Good luck."

A rush of excited conversation followed Erza's revelation, and the pairs of competitors began to file out of the clearing to explore the island.

"We'd better hurry before the others get a head start on us," I remarked, but Levy stopped me before I could leave.

"Wait!" she exclaimed, grabbing my arm and tugging me back. "We need to solve the riddle first. That's how we'll find the hiding place." she sat down on one of the benches, eyebrows furrowed in thought. "She said it was 'hidden in plain sight', so it must not be terribly hard to find, but she also said 'I am not here, but am hidden'. It's a bit of a contradiction, if you think about it. 'Roots that grow into the clouds'; it's confusing! I can't tell what's literal and what's metaphorical!" she shook her head helplessly, leaning her elbows on her knees.

I crossed my arms, frowning thoughtfully. "We should figure out the 'roots that grow into the clouds' part first. That should give us an idea of where to start," I suggested. "Are there any kinds of plants whose roots grow upwards?"

Levy shook her head. "Not that I know of. Plants get nourishment from the ground so having roots above ground would be pretty useless, unless it could somehow harvest nutrients from the sky. I don't know if there's enough in the air to sustain a plant."

I closed my eyes, racking my brain. I didn't remember seeing any plants with roots that grew above ground. I think I would have remembered if I did. "Does it have to be literal?" I wondered aloud. "I read in my chemistry book the other day about trees that reproduce by growing new trees out of their roots…"

Levy's eyes lit up, and she gasped. "That's it!" she exclaimed, making me jump with her sudden outburst. "Lu, you're a genius!"

"I am?" I stuttered, blinking at Levy. "Erm… how, exactly?"

Levy grinned, placing a hand on her hip. "The Tenrou Tree! It was the first tree to grow on the island, and its roots are what make up nearly the whole forest. Therefore, the tree's roots, which would grow new trees, would grow towards the sky!"

"So the thing that Master wants us to find is hidden at the Tenrou Tree?" I clarified. That was… admittedly easier than I imagined. "Well then, what are we waiting for?"

The two of us took off down the path, racing towards the gigantic tree in the center of the island. I felt my heart speed up with excitement. This was it. I could really win this thing.

"There!" I called, pointing ahead of us to where the Tenrou Tree loomed up into the sky, even breaking through the line of clouds so that its top disappeared out of sight. This had to be the place. There was no way it was anything else. I slowed as I approached the towering trunk of the tree, catching my breath quickly and looking around. "Where is that stone? It must be around here somewhere," I muttered, getting down on my hands and knees to sift through the grass and fall leaves dotting the ground.

Levy wandered around, her gaze flicking back and forth over the tree's trunk and thick roots. She frowned thoughtfully, her gaze lingering on a crevice on the edge of the trunk. Gazing down into the small space, she was surprised to see what looked like an arrow on the edge of the hole, pointing straight upward. "Lucy, come look at what I found!" she exclaimed. She stood with one foot on each side of the hole, making sure she was centered directly above the arrow, and craned her neck to stare straight up through the branches of the tree. She stood there for a moment, just staring, and then she gasped. "No… that can't be right!" she exclaimed.

I stood up, regarding Levy curiously. "What's wrong?" I asked, approaching her and staring up at the sky. All I could see was the sun, half-veiled by wispy clouds.

Levy raised her hand cupping it in the sky, and I gave her a weird look. She started muttering to herself. "A palm-sized stone, yellow, that shines brightly in the daylight. It's the sun!" she began to laugh, her eyes shining. "Hidden in plain sight! What an incredible riddle!"

My eyes widened, and I held up my hand, closing one eye to see clearly. I brought it up so that, in perspective, my hand touched the very edge of the sun. True to Levy's word, it fit into the curve of my palm as if it were really palm-sized. "I don't believe it," I breathed, blinking.

"Come on, Lu!" Levy interrupted. She was already heading down the path, her hands cupping her mouth so that she could call out to me. "If we don't hurry, someone will have already beaten us!"

I turned on my heel and chased after Levy. For a girl of her meager size, she was _fast_! "Slow down, Levy!" I called, panting. Out of everything, I was the worst at running. When I finally rounded the corner and spotted her, she was waiting at the end of the path.

The problem was, Cana had beaten us to it.

"Yo!" Cana called, grinning and raising a hand to us in greeting. She was perched atop the stump of a tree, her legs crossed, and Wendy sat on the ground beside her, playing with the grass and leaves on the forest floor. Makarov was seated on the other side of the clearing.

"Master, we solved the riddle!" Levy exclaimed. "Although, I think it would be a little hard to bring you the sun." she giggled breathlessly.

Makarov laughed heartily, a wide grin on his face. "Well done, girls! You did good to solve my riddle. Unfortunately, Cana has already solved it."

Levy turned to Cana in shock, eyes wide. "Really? Lucy and I were so fast, though!" she exclaimed.

"We barely beat you," Cana admitted. "If it wasn't for Wendy's superhuman ability to solve riddles, I'd be screwed." she laughed out loud, nudging her partner, and Wendy gave a shy smile, blushing modestly.

"My mom used to tell me riddles a lot, so I'm good at them," she said. "I'm just glad I could help."

Makarov nodded. "I was just about to give the signal to let the others know the test is over. It's just a simple firework; I'll do that now." he leaned down and produced the firework from his bag, setting it on the ground and striking a match. "Stand back, everyone!" he called, lighting the wick. I took a few steps back to stand beside Levy, and a moment later the firework went off, exploding in a shower of colorful sparks.

The rest of us sat down to wait. Gray and Loke were the first to arrive, followed quickly by Natsu and Romeo. Natsu, in particular, looked very depressed at being the last to finish. "Fourth place," he sulked. "I can't believe it."

Cana patted Natsu on the back consolingly. "Cheer up, Natsu! There's always next year," she said with a grin. "Maybe someday I'll take you on an S-class mission with me."

Natsu seemed to brighten a bit at this. "Really?"

"I would advise against that," I put in.

"Lucy?! Come on, aren't you on my side?"

"I'm just telling the truth."

"Now that you mention it, Lucy, maybe you're right…"

"Luce! Look when you did!"

My eye twitched at the irritating pet name that Natsu insisted on using. "How many times have I told you not to call me that?" I growled. "It's annoying!"

Levy giggled. "Aw, come on, Lu. I think it's cute," she swooned.

Natsu pouted at me. "Yeah! Why does Levy get to call you Lu, but I can't call you Luce?" he whined.

"Because I said so," I replied stubbornly, glaring pointedly at both Natsu and Levy. "I wouldn't push your luck. It's not pretty when I'm angry."

Natsu pulled a face, nodding agreement. "She kicks hard," he vouched.

Gray snorted contemptuously. "What did you do to make Lucy that angry?" he questioned.

I sighed, shaking my head. "He seems to think that my room is also his," I replied with a roll of my eyes. "He just shows up whenever he wants. I even found him sleeping in my bed once!"

"Your bed is confier than mine!" Natsu insisted. "Your room is quieter, too. The guys get really loud at night. I can hardly get any sleep."

I gave Natsu a funny look, raising an eyebrow at him. "I don't believe that for a second. I know for a fact that it was you who set the librarian's favorite book on fire at three in the morning just last week. You're the one here who is obsessed with fire."

"I was bored!" Natsu insisted, as if that explanation was totally liable. "And I am not the only one! Loke is, too!" he pointed to the orange-haired boy expressively to show his point.

Loke held up his hands in surrender. "Just because I like light a little doesn't mean I'm going to go all Farenheit 51 on the library!" he exclaimed.

"Shut up, you brats!" Makarov yelled, interrupting the fight-in-the-making. "Erza and Mirajane have already taken the others back to the boat, so hurry up and get back there!"

One by one the teens began to file out of the clearing. I kept to the back of the group, admiring the scenery around me. It really was a beautiful island, and I felt a pang of sadness that I wouldn't be able to explore it further. Who knows what kind of things could be here?

A glint of light, like the reflection of the sun off a piece of glass, caught my attention. I paused in my walking, squinting against the light, and as I did I was able to make out the outline of what appeared to be a person. That was odd. Only members of Fairy Tail were allowed onto this island.

"Lu! Hurry up!" Levy called out to me. She was already far ahead, staring at me in concern.

I waved a hand at her dismissively. "I want to look at something really quick. I'll be right there!" I responded before pushing through the foliage at the edges of the path. I ignored Levy's calls and warnings as I made my way towards where I knew the person was waiting. I frowned; I didn't know why, but it felt like they were waiting for _me_, specifically. My hunch was pretty spot-on most of the time, too. "What do you want?" I demanded when I was within range of the person. Their head was hidden behind a hood draped over their head, and they were holding a letter in one hand, a flashlight in the other.

"I have a message for you," the person replied. It was a woman, an old one, by the sound of it. And a very familiar one at that. My eyebrows furrowed in thought, wracking my brain, and then my eyes widened in shock. "Ms. Supetto, is that you?" I whispered. I hadn't seen her since I moved in with my uncle nearly ten years ago.

Ms. Supetto pulled back her hood and smiled warmly at me. "Oh, Lucy, it's so good to see you again," she said. "You're all grown up, now." She was different than I remembered, shorter, with more wrinkles and gray streaks in her purple hair. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I have something very important to give you. Something your father told me to give to you before he… died."

I sucked in a breath, my eyes automatically moving to the letter in her hand. "Is that it?" I asked. "A letter from my father? I don't want it."

"Please, just read it once, Lucy," Ms. Supetto urged. She took my hand, a touch I hadn't felt in a long time, and placed the letter in my hand, curling my fingers over it. "I promise you, you need to read what's in it. If you don't like what the letter says, you can throw it away, but please, read it just once, for me."

I stared at the letter in my hand suspiciously. It was pristine, as if it had just been written. There wasn't a wrinkle or a tear in the paper, and the wax seal was perfectly shaped. I sighed in defeat, slipping the letter unceremoniously into my pocket. "Alright, fine. I'll read it, but I won't like it," I grumbled.

Ms. Supetto patted my hand, offering me a gentle, reassuring smile. "Thank you, honey. I know your mother and father would be proud of who you are now," she said.

I just let out a little huff and turned my back on her. "Well, thanks for stopping by. See you around," I said with a little backwards wave. I headed back towards the path, pausing only once to look back over my shoulder, but she had already gone.


End file.
